TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR POPULARISATION OF A LAND CASEBOOK FOR MAGISTRATES IN NGOZI AND KAYANZA

From December 19 to December 23 in 2022 in  Gitega city town, judges from the Court of Appeal of Ngozi, the High Courts of Ngozi and Kayanza

 From December 19 to December 23 in 2022 in  Gitega city town, judges from the Court of Appeal of Ngozi, the High Courts of Ngozi and Kayanza as well as those from the Residential Courts of Ngozi-Ruhoro-Tangara-Gatara-Matongo and Banga are participating in a popularisation  workshop on the content of a compendium ( collection) of land-related case law of the Supreme Court of Burundi.

This workshop was jointly organised by the 'Centre de Formation des Professionnels de la Justice' (CFPJ) and the Land and Development Expertise Center (LADEC).

The discussions mainly focused on the place and role of Jurisprudence as a whole in judicial decision-making, with a focus on the content of the land case law published by the Supreme Court on 15 December 2022.

The judges who took part in the meeting welcomed this activity and considered that the production of this model casebook was timely and that it will help regulating customary practices and contributing to the evolution of Burundian law and culture in land matters. These judges unanimously affirm that, as a result of customary burdens, Burundian girls and women are, to a large extent, discriminated against in their access to land.

As in most cases, Burundian girls and women are only claiming the right of 'IGISEKE', whereas 'one cannot judge ultrapetita' (the judge cannot grant what has not been requested), the participants recommend that the compendium be made known to the population in general and to women in particular.

The magistrates also recommended that awareness-raising should involve all legal practitioners (ordinary court judges) and court officers (lawyers) and particularly the administrative authorities, who often do not facilitate the enforcement of judgments and rulings.