Programs
ACIL’s programs are designed to advance the study, public understanding, and practical use of international law in Africa.
Our work moves between research, public education, legal empowerment, advocacy, and engagement with international and regional mechanisms. Each program has a distinct purpose, but they are connected by one commitment of making international law more accessible, more useful, and more responsive to African realities.
International Law from Below Program
The International Law from Below Program is ACIL’s research and ideas program. It studies public international law from the standpoint of African realities, lived experience, and struggles for justice. The program produces reports, legal commentaries, issue briefs, case notes, essays, and visual explainers on how international law is made, interpreted, contested, and used. Its work asks not only what the law says, but who it serves, who it excludes, and how it can be claimed by people and communities.
Legal Empowerment Program
The Legal Empowerment Program turns legal knowledge into practical capacity. It offers workshops, short courses, toolkits, reading sessions, and public education spaces for communities, students, activists, young lawyers, civil society actors, paralegals, and grassroots organisations. The program helps people understand international and regional legal standards and use them in advocacy, documentation, campaigning, public education, and accountability work.
International Mechanisms Clinic
The International Mechanisms Clinic supports engagement with African Union and United Nations human rights mechanisms. It helps communities, civil society actors, students, and grassroots organisations understand how to use institutions such as the African Commission, the African Court, UN treaty bodies, the Universal Periodic Review, and UN Special Procedures. Its work may include guidance on communications, shadow reports, urgent appeals, submissions, advocacy letters, and follow-up strategies.
Strategic Litigation and Advocacy Program
The Strategic Litigation and Advocacy Program supports the use of international and regional law in cases, campaigns, and advocacy processes that raise important questions of justice and accountability. ACIL may contribute through legal research, comparative analysis, amicus-style briefs, expert notes, legal opinions, and support to partners working on public interest litigation. The program focuses on matters where international law can help clarify rights, responsibility, remedies, and institutional accountability.
