From 25 to 30 January 2006, the Appeals counsel from three international courts, the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and International Criminal Court (ICC) were engaged in intensive appellate advocacy training at the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania under the Joint Appellate Advocacy Training Program. The training ended with simulated appeal hearings before international panels composed of appellate judges and senior counsel.

The training focused on the development of both written and oral appellate advocacy skills, and operated on the principle that participants learn through practicing the skills and receiving constructive feedback on their performances from an expert faculty. The faculty was drawn from appellate judges in Canada and the USA, as well as from senior practitioners and teachers in both countries and the Courts themselves.

The training aimed at teaching participants how to think effectively about issues in an appeal, develop skill in preparation of written submission and to develop skill and confidence in the preparation of oral argument.

The training was made possible through the generous support and involvement of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs Human Security Program, the European Union Project for Capacity Building within the ICTR Office of the Prosecutor, the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the National Institute of Trial Advocacy of the USA, and the Open Society Justice Initiative. The program has also received the full support of the senior management of all three Courts.

This is the second such joint appellate advocacy training. The first one took place in The Hague at ICTY in January 2005. It is hoped that such training will be an annual undertaking, as an integral component of the Tribunals’ completion strategy, alternating between Arusha and The Hague, to ensure the maintenance of a high level of skill in counsel appearing on behalf of the Prosecutor in cases before the ICTY, ICTR and ICC Appeals Chambers.