Abstract
Following the workshop with Professor Boaventura de Sousa Santos in March 2022, the Decolonising Initiative organises another event about Law and Decolonisation, this time with a stronger practical component. We are pleased to welcome four practitioners from non-European countries who will talk about their experience in decolonising legal practice. Lawyers, judges, and activists - facing the issue of decolonization on the ground - will offer insights on how to go beyond decolonising legal academia.
About the speakers
José Pina-Delgado holds a PhD in Public Law from the Law School of the Nova University of Lisbon; he is an Associate Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Cape Verde and a Professor of Legal Theory and Public Law at the Department of Law and International Studies of the Institute of Legal and Social Sciences of Praia (ISCJS-Portuguese acronym), Cape Verde. Former Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Cape Verde and former head of the Unit of International Criminal Cooperation and Fundamental Rights of the Ministry of Justice of Cape Verde. Former Special Legal Adviser on Public Law Matters of the Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs, Defence and State Reform.
Orquídea Massarongo-Jona is a Mozambican attorney and legal scholar. Vice-President of the National Council of the Mozambican Bar Association, he also coordinates the Human Rights Programme at the Law Faculty of the Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo and is a Member of the board of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA).
Aldemar Bolaños Caldon is a Colombian indigenous lawyer at the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) (‘Consejo Regional Indigena del Causa’). The CRIC is an association of indigenous authorities in the Cauca region which has been historically involved in the defence of indigenous rights and their lands and which played a key role in the negotiations of the Peace agreement in Colombia. Aldemar works currently as a lawyer for the Nasa indigenous community in the Colombian transitional justice process. In this context, he ensures that the peace agreement is interpreted and implemented in accordance with the Nasa indigenous cosmovision.
The Bufete para pueblos indígenas ('Law firm for indigenous people') is a law firm specialised in the defence of the rights of indigenous people in Guatemala, exclusively composed of Mayan Lawyers. Through advocacy and strategic litigation, the Bufete highlights the racism and colonialism of Guatemalan laws and challenges them using human rights and indigenous cosmovision.
After short presentations from the speakers, time will be given to Q&A. This fully online event will be held in Spanish and English, and interpretation between the two languages will be provided.