Center Organizes Groundbreaking Pilot Training for Francophone Capital Defenders

In February 2019, the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide organized a trailblazing pilot training for capital defenders working in civil law jurisdictions in Africa. The event brought together 20 lawyers and experts from Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Mauritania, Niger, Tunisia, and the United States. Our goal was to gather experienced francophone lawyers to help us design a French-language version of the Center’s hallmark Makwanyane Institute for capital defenders. Over the course of our four-day meeting, we deepened our mutual understanding of the differences between common law and civil law legal traditions, and discussed how to best adapt our training model to lawyers representing capital defendants in civil law jurisdictions. Together, we paved the way for our 2020 Makwanyane Institute, which for the first time will be offered entirely in French.

Like the full-length Makwanyane training, the pilot centered on interactive, experiential learning, exploring client interviewing through role-plays, brainstorming sessions on storytelling skills, and applying knowledge gained through expert mental health lectures to a hypothetical case file. The event also offered opportunities to share strategies to overcome practical challenges in death penalty defense (which will be incorporated into our upcoming civil-law adaption of Representing Individuals Facing the Death Penalty: A Best Practices Manual).

Fatimata Mbaye, an advocate from Mauritania, discussing innovative strategies to overcome obstacles in capital defense.

Participants left emboldened with new ideas and a transnational sense of solidarity. The strategic value of beginning a trial with an opening statement informed by crafting a case narrative—quite novel in many of the participants’ jurisdictions—inspired some attendees to try to incorporate it into their practice.  Building an international community of like-minded advocates that continues to grow despite geographical distance has proven a powerful tool to fight isolation. These advocates have continued to support one another with strategic input, moral support in the face of obstacles, and a community with which to celebrate victories.

Gozzo Tourndide, an advocate from Chad, receiving his certificate for his participation in the pilot training