The opening of the IBA/OSISA Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) in Johannesburg, South Africa on 20 June 2005 saw the establishment of the first organisation in the region dedicated to the training and support of lawyers litigating human rights and rule of law issues. A joint project of the IBAHRI and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), SALC will provide ongoing expert support, resources and training to lawyers taking cases that advance human rights, the rule of law, public interest and constitutional issues in Southern Africa. It is also supported by DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, one of the three largest law firms in the world. 

The Centre is designed to provide a focus on three principal areas: support for human rights cases; advice on constitutional advocacy in the Southern African region; and training in human rights and rule of law issues. The Centre, in providing training, mentoring and facilities, will thus promote the effective implementation of human rights in the region.

Justice Richard Goldstone, retired South African Constitutional Court judge and HRI Co-Chair, said at the opening ceremony: 
    
                In the new democracies of our region, constitutionalism and the protection of fundamental human rights are areas in which our lawyers have not been trained, either academically or in practice. It is a learning curve for us all. The history of legal activism in South Africa has demonstrated the importance of the careful selection of cases that are on firm ground, both morally and legally.  In providing training in these areas, this new Centre will, I am confident, play a crucial role.

Two-hundred judicial and legal figures from all nine countries in the region attended the launch and welcomed the initiative as a major step forward in the promotion of the rule of law.

The Centre will be serviced by local resource people who will provide expert support to lawyers litigating on human rights, constitutional and public interest cases in the region. The provision of training and support for advocates on the front line of defending human rights cases will be a unique development for the region. Further details about the Centre can be found on www.dlapiper.com/salc