Notre Dame professor to train human rights lawyers

Sean O’Brien, professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, is in Tunis, Tunisia this week to participate in the training of North African human rights lawyers. The training, attended by leading lawyers from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and Tunisia, is sponsored by the North African Litigation Initiative, a project of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a Cairo-based human rights organization.

The training sessions will focus on presenting human rights cases before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights – the principal human rights bodies of the African Union. Participants will also reflect on the role that these bodies can play in light of the recent and continuing revolutions in the region.

O’Brien’s presentation will discuss strategic human rights litigation before international tribunals and offer techniques for increasing the legal and social impact of their litigation.

“It is an honor to accompany these courageous and dedicated lawyers as they seek ways to respond to the human rights situation in their countries,” said O’Brien in a press release. He will also share information about Notre Dame’s LL.M. degree program in international human rights law with participants.

O’Brien is the assistant director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights and concurrent assistant professor of law.