ACADEMIC CENTERS
The faculty of law is setting up different academic centers such as social justice center, center for peace, and Marine and environmental Law center.
We believe that these centers are extremely important for Somalia today, which is a war torn country affected by civil war for more than two decades. These centers are more likely to tackle some of the most serious problems affecting our people, such as lack of justice for the vulnerable and the poor people, the wide spread of violence and political instability, deforestation(charcoal trade) illegal fish farming, industrial waste dumping in our seas and sea pirates .
- Social Justice Center
Social Justice Center established with the aim to provide a favorable ground for human rights advocacy and research, to offer free legal aid service for the vulnerable portion of the society, and to provide quality legal education which will produce competent legal professionals. The center will provide Education and Training, Research and Publication, and Legal Aid.
(a) Education and training program
This program focused on:
- Education and training aimed at raising the awareness of the general public, the poor, vulnerable and the disadvantaged, the university community, the justice sector and other relevant government bodies about human rights and basic as well as advanced legal education.
- To influence policy-making and law reform in Somalia through the development of fresh ideas on the most demanding and cutting-edge democratic governance obstacles to the full and effective enforcement and enjoyment of rights. It will seek to fulfill this mission by creating a safe intellectual space in which key stakeholders can think through possible solutions, with a range of inter-disciplinary projects that support the process and inform the debate so as to promote public accountability and the rule of law.
(b) SNU Law clinic and legal aid services
Senior law students may register for the Legal Practice course. Through the course the Law Clinic provides its students with outstanding practical legal training while at the same time rendering free legal assistance to impoverished communities who would not otherwise have access to professional legal services. This program focuses on assisting the poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable to realize their right to access to justice.
(2) PEACE CENTER
THE NEED FOR SOMALI PEACE CENTER
The peace center will foster dialogue and building the capacity in Somalia for the prevention of conflicts and, where conflicts do arise, it will provide a facility that speed up intervention response thus stemming the escalation of conflict and saving lives. The primary objective of the Somalia peace center will be to influence political developments in the country by bringing conflict resolution, dialogue and institutional development to the forefront as an alternative to armed violence and protracted conflict. The center will specialize in conflict management, analysis and prevention and will intervene in conflicts through mediation, negotiation, training and research in conflict analysis. It will also incorporate a resource and documentation center.
The program focus:
The Somalia Peace Center will operate at three levels:
- Making research on the causes of conflict in Somalia.
- Equipping Somalia’s leaders in the skills required to facilitate peace and resolve conflict through an extensive training program on conflict resolution, communication and leadership skills.
- Intervening in specific conflicts by facilitating and hosting mediation efforts in collaboration with other major players.
(3) Environment and Marine Law Center
The reason why the faculty of law has established a marine and environmental law center is:
- To prevent illegal fishing,
- Industrial waste dumping in our seas,
- Soil erosion and deforestation,
- Wild life migration and illegal wildlife trade (poaching).
Its functions include:
- Collect existing legislation on marine and environment, and raise public awareness.
- Bring together academics, practitioners, and policy makers to debate discuss and propose solutions on major environmental and marine issues that exist within our society.
- Monitor developments in the Law of the Sea and Environmental Law in the Somalia context.
- keeping interested parties, in both the public and private sectors, informed of these developments;
- publishing from time to time articles of an academic nature or occasional papers;
- providing opinions and undertaking research projects on a fee-paying basis when commissioned to do so;
- building up library on the Law of the Sea and Environmental Law;
- providing courses and research supervision for graduate students in aspects of the Law of the Sea and Environmental Law;
- Providing incidental lectures on these subjects as may be required by the University.
TEACHING AND LEARNING POLICY
Mutual Commitment
- Benefiting from the opportunities of education requires a mutual commitment on the part of both student and teacher.
- Students should understand that, by accepting the offer of a place at the University, they undertake responsibility for their own learning. This requires that they attend classes, practical and other scheduled activities and prepare assignments to the best of their ability, handing in work on time.
- They should act with honesty and integrity, ensuring that work that they hand in is their own, that all the sources that they use are properly acknowledged, and those they respect and follow the rules and procedures for formal examinations.
