May 9, 2018: CODE PAKISTAN signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the School of International Law (SIL) for establishing the Center of Excellence in Criminal Justice (CECJ) at SIL. The founder of CODE Pakistan Mr. Dilawar Khan and his team participated in the signing ceremony of the MOU with Ms. Nida Tareen, the principal of the esteemed School of International Law (SIL). The Center which is to be inaugurated later this year is being set up within SIL as a leading hub for innovative research in criminal law for the purpose of promoting the culture of research and to better equip criminal justice actors with legal knowledge by increasing the legal acumen of law students, young lawyers, and other influential actors in society. The Center is to be a forum for skills development through advanced and short-course trainings, which will thoroughly address a wide range of subjects encompassed in criminal law. The trainings will incorporate an added feature focusing on the practical aspects of the law to ensure a well-rounded training course for those who may be proficient in the theory of criminal law but are unfamiliar with the working protocols and skills that are necessary to the practice of criminal law.
CODE PAKISTAN has signed on as a facilitator for the development of training materials and manuals, for conducting the trainings, and for engaging experts and organizations in the field to act as guest speakers and collaborators in the training courses. The trainings will be available to final year law students at SIL as well as students from external educational institutions who will receive certification at the end of the training course. Access to the trainings will later be scaled up to include all interested parties, including law practitioners, teachers, and journalists.
One potential project discussed by CODE PAKISTAN with the SIL team, during the signing of the MOU, was with regards to a skills development training course for female lawyers from Balochistan. The idea was met with much enthusiasm and is expected to be included in future action plans following the opening of the Center.