1. BY CHIPO MUSHOTA NKHATA
Using Trial Advocacy As a Tool for Protecting Rights of Vulnerable Groups
BY CHIPO MUSHOTA NKHATA

2. Lay out of Presentation
Understanding trial advocacy
Use of trial advocacy as an advocacy tool: Explore different models, their advantages and disadvantages
Share the UNZA experience of using trial advocacy as a tool for teaching CLE and protecting rights of vulnerable groups.
Lay out of Presentation

3. Understanding trial advocacy
What is trial advocacy?
What is the purpose of trial advocacy?
Who is the typical target audience of trial advocacy?
Understanding trial advocacy

4. Trial Advocacy as an advocacy tool: Different models of trial advocacy
Having understood what trial advocacy is, describe how you can use a trial advocacy model to advocate for a specific right of a vulnerable person or group highlighting:
Who the person or group is.
The human rights violation that they have experienced.
Who has violated it.
Identify the person/people/institution(s) who are most strategically placed to change the situation for the vulnerable person/people.
What is key message in your trial advocacy?
Trial Advocacy as an advocacy tool: Different models of trial advocacy
ACTIVITY: to be done in groups of 3 or 4

5. Trial Advocacy as an advocacy tool
How can one best tell their story using trial advocacy?
What is key message in your trial advocacy?
Who will deliver this key message:
Counsel for petitioner (play the true role of the petitioner, one who is properly enlightened on the issues and is trying to change a status quo that violates the rights of vulnerable groups. This is because you want to show your audience how their line of reasoning affects the situation being addressed-either positively or negatively)
Counsel for respondents (play the true role of the respondents even if you are enlightened on the violations and don’t agree with them. This is because you want to show your audience how their line of reasoning affects the situation being addressed either positively or negatively)
Witnesses (counsel on both sides must prepare their witnesses adequately to enable them tell their stories accurately and in a manner that advances their case. Witnesses need to know how to strike the right balance between the role they are playing as lay persons and their enlightened side as law students always bearing in mind the need to help advance their side’s arguments)
Judges (These have a critical role in trial advocacy as they are their to protect the process and ensure that they manage power relations amongst all the players in the court process. They also have an important role in delivering the key message in that they take the full arguments of both sides and write a well reasoned judgment with obiter dictum. They should be able to award judgment to the team that told their story the best whilst giving enough room in the judgment to deliver the key message. What was done well, What was not done so well, what was missing from the argument? What would have made them swing the judgement the other side etc. They must come prepared to deliver their judgment in open court and if you want to test their legal writing skills, they must also be given time to reduce their judgment to writing.
How is it beneficial to students’ learning?
Preparation for trial advocacy must be done under the guidance of law teachers and experienced litigators.
Lecturers must teach students the substantive law affecting the subject of the trial advocacy as well as how to manage a client and the case.
Experience of court room litigation
How is it beneficial to the different players in the legal field?
If your target is judges, the lawyers, clients and media can benefit from trial advocacy by being familiarized with the arguments, court procedures and the contents of the judgement and feedback from examiners. The students can also benefit from feedback from examiners, experienced lawyers, clients and judges in the audience as well as Q&A and debriefing session at the end of the trial.
How can trial audience benefit your secondary audience?
If your target is judges, the lawyers, clients and media can benefit from trial advocacy by being familiarized with the arguments, court procedures and the contents of the judgement and feedback from examiners. The students can also benefit from feedback from examiners and experienced lawyers and judges in the audience as well as Q&A session at the end of the trial.
Trial Advocacy as an advocacy tool

6. The UNZA experience of using trial advocacy to teach CLE
History of trial advocacy at UNZA and lessons learnt from past experience
The future of trial advocacy at UNZA in the short to medium term
The UNZA experience of using trial advocacy to teach CLE