BUJUMBURA February 17th (ABP) – The East Africa Law Society (EALS) Board of Directors in partnership with the Bujumbura Bar Association, held a press conference on Thursday February 16, 2023, in Bujumbura, to announce the preparations for the 28th Annual Conference of EALS and General Assembly which will take place in November 2023.
The president of Bujumbura Bar Association, Me Jean de Dieu Muhuzenge, first recalled that the EALS is an association of all the bars (bar associations) of the member countries of the East African Community, including Burundi, Tanzania, the DRC, the Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya.
He said that Burundi will host the annual conference and is preparing to welcome more than 500 lawyers and other legal professionals who are EALS members.
For that reason, the leaders of the EALS bars have been meeting from February 16 to 18 in Bujumbura, to see how to properly prepare for the conference.
According to him, the conference will be an opportunity to allow Burundian lawyers to establish strong professional relations with their colleagues in the sub-region. It will also be another good opportunity to show the world that Burundi is currently open to anyone who wants to. Burundians who want to bring a case before the EAC court will be able to use EALS lawyers because there will be collaboration with EALS lawyers, which will also reduce travel costs.
The conference will allow Burundian lawyers to gain confidence in foreign investors who want to bring their capital to Burundi, explaining that the latter must first inquire about the functioning of justice in a country to ensure the protection of its investments.
Note that the EALS has its headquarters in Arusha and has official observer status with the EAC. EALS works closely with the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), African Peoples and Human Rights Court Rights (AFCHPR), the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights among other regional and international bodies.