Secondment Programme for Trade Lawyers
The Agreement Establishing the ACWL envisages that the ACWL offer training to government officials through internships, among other means. In fulfilment of this objective, in March 2005, the ACWL launched the Secondment Programme for Trade Lawyers, under which government lawyers from developing country Members and LDCs join the staff of the ACWL as paid trainees for a nine-month term starting in mid-September and ending in mid-June of the following year.
The programme gives government lawyers from developing countries and LDCs an opportunity to work with, and learn from, a team of experienced lawyers that are actively involved in WTO legal issues and dispute settlement proceedings. It is funded by voluntary contributions made by developed country Members of the ACWL. To date, 14 government lawyers from nine developing countries and four LDCs have participated in the programme.
Secondment Programme for Trade Lawyers: Background Memorandum (pdf)
Current participants
Faisal Al-Nabhani (2011-2012)
Mr. Faisal Al-Nabhani is a legal researcher with the Ministry of Legal Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman. His responsibilities include reviewing draft conventions and treaties that the government intends to conclude and preparing the implementing legislation as well as drafting legal opinions. Mr. Al-Nahbani has a Masters of Law in International Business and Economic Law from Georgetown University Law Centre, a Diploma in Legal Practice from Oxford University and a law degree from the University of Warwick. He is a student member of the Law Society of England and Wales.
Pablo Escobar (2011-2012)
Mr. Pablo Escobar is a lawyer with the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the WTO. His duties include participating in the Doha Round negotiations, including Trade Facilitation, Trade and Environment, Fisheries Subsidies, Agriculture and reform of the Dispute Settlement Understanding. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Panamerican Center and a Juris Doctor from Universidad del Azuay. He graduated from the Academia Diplomática Ecuador with distinction.
Jeremy Kumajas (2011-2012)
Mr. Jeremy Kumajas is a lawyer with the Legal Bureau of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia. His responsibilities include drafting regulations for the Ministry of Trade and ensuring consistency with national as well as international law. He has a degree in Economics Law from Universitas Indonesia and a Masters of Law from Maastricht University.
Former participants
Mesut Aydin (2010-2011)
Mr. Mesut Aydin, from Turkey, is a foreign trade expert in Turkey's Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade. His responsibilities include negotiating and concluding free trade agreements with the countries covered by the European Union's common commercial policy. He has law degrees from Gazi University Law School and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Gaewgarn Fuangtong (2010-2011)
Ms Gaewgarn Fuangtong, from Thailand, is a trade officer in the Bureau of Trade Interests and Remedies in Thailand's Ministry of Commerce. Her responsibilities include assisting in anti-dumping proceedings initiated by Thailand as well as assisting Thai producers to defend trade remedy proceedings initiated by other WTO Members. She has law degrees from Thammasat University in Bangkok, the University of Chicago and New York University.
Jose Mario Elino Tan (2010-2011)
Mr. Jose Mario Elino Tan, from the Philippines, is a lawyer in the Office of the Solicitor-General of the Philippines, which represents the government of the Philippines before domestic courts and international tribunals such as WTO panels and the Appellate Body. Mr. Tan holds a law degree from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. He is a member of the California bar and the integrated bar of the Philipines.
Catherine Muganga (2009-2010)
Ms Catherine Muganga, from Uganda, is a state attorney in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Uganda. She has recently been involved in the negotiations on "Economic Partnership Agreements" between the European Community and the EAC countries. Ms Muganga holds an LL.B. degree (Honours) from Makerere University, Uganda, and an LL.M. degree from Dalhousie University, Canada. Upon completing her secondment in 2010, Ms Muganga returned to her position at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in the Directorate of Legal Advisory Services.
Shandana Gulzar Khan (2008-2009)
Ms Shandana Gulzar Khan, from Pakistan, has law degrees from the University of Peshawar and the University of Cambridge. As the Legal Affairs Officer at the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the WTO in Geneva for the last two years, she has been responsible for the legal work of the mission, including negotiations on the Dispute Settlement Understanding and the TRIPS Agreement. She previously worked at Azam Chaudhry Law Associates and the Asian Institute of Trade and Development in Islamabad. She has also published various articles on WTO matters.
Liang-Rong Lin (2008-2009)
Ms Liang-Rong Lin, from Chinese Taipei, has an LL.B. and LL.M. degree from Taiwan University and Soochow University, respectively, both in Chinese Taipei. She was also a visiting scholar at Yale Law School. She is currently a legal advisor in the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, where she provides legal advice on trade policy, negotiations and dispute settlement. She has drafted several third party submissions for WTO disputes in which Chinese Taipei was involved. She previously represented the government as a public prosecutor in criminal cases including high-profile cases on corruption. Ms Lin is also a reporter for the Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts. In November 2008, Ms Lin won Chinese Taipei’s Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award, which honours young people who excel in their chosen field. Ms Lin won in the category of public administration and was recognised for her achievement as a prosecutor in high-profile corruption cases.
Gheidy Gallo Santos (2008-2009)
Ms Gheidy Gallo Santos, from Colombia, has a B.A. degree in Law from the National University of Colombia. She currently works as a Legal Adviser in International Economic Law at the Entrepreneurial Development Office of the National Planning Department and is a member of the Colombian Negotiating Team for International Trade Agreements in the Institutional Provisions and Dispute Settlement Chapters. She previously worked for the Colombian Senate Committee on International Relations and Foreign Trade. She has also worked at Ramirez & Orozco International Strategy Consultants in Colombia on matters related to International Economic Law, especially, the FTA negotiating process between Colombia and the United States. Additionally, she has lectured at the Faculty of Law of the National University on the law of economic integration in Colombia.
Talat Kaya (2007-2008)
Before he joined the ACWL in 2007, Mr. Talat Kaya, from Turkey, worked as a Foreign Trade Expert in Turkey's Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade. In that capacity, he worked on trade and competition policy issues and regularly attended the Textile Committee meetings of the EC Commission. He graduated from Ankara University Law Faculty and received an LL.M. from Vanderbilt University, USA, where he wrote a thesis on the patentability of computer programs under the TRIPS Agreement. Upon completing his secondment in 2008, Mr. Kaya returned to his position at the Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade.
Pema Rinzin (2007-2008)
Prior to joining the ACWL in 2007, Mr. Pema Rinzin, from Bhutan, was a senior Assistant Attorney General working in the Office of the Attorney General. Mr. Rinzin was also a member of the team that worked on the accession of Bhutan to the WTO. He has a B.A. degree (Honours) from Delhi University, an LL.B. from Bombay University in India and an LL.M. from the National University of Singapore. Upon completing his secondment in 2008, Mr. Rinzin returned to his position in the Office of the Attorney General.
Sophia Sitati (2007-2008)
Ms Sophia Sitati joined the ACWL in 2007 from Kenya, where she was a State Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General, Department of Treaties and Agreements. Her responsibilities included advising government Ministries, departments and state corporations in negotiating and implementing international agreements and treaties. She has an LL.B. (Honours) from the University of Nairobi and is undertaking a M.A. in International Studies at the same university. Upon completing her secondment in 2008, Ms Sitati returned to the State Law Office as Senior State Counsel.
Mary Kachale (2006-2007)
At the time she joined the ACWL, Ms Mary Kachale, from Malawi, was Senior Assistant Chief State Advocate in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in Malawi. Her responsibilities included giving legal advice to government departments and ministries, such as the Ministry of Trade and Private Sector Development. She has a B.A. degree (Honours) from the University of Malawi and a Diploma in International Protection of Human Rights from the Institute for Human Rights, Abo Akademi, Finland. She participated in the regional training seminar on WTO dispute settlement rules in Nairobi in 2003. Upon completing her secondment in 2007, Ms. Kachale returned to her position in the Ministry of Justice. In 2009, she was awarded an LL.M. in Public International Law at the University College, London; in 2010 she commenced her PhD in law at the same university.
Mokhtar Warida (2006-2007)
Prior to joining the ACWL, Mr. Mokhtar Warida, from Egypt, worked on international economic law and trade policy issues with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998. He has a B.A. degree in Economics and a M.A. in Political Science and Professional Development. Upon completing his secondment in 2007, Mr. Warida returned to his position in the Foreign Ministry and has since been appointed as First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Geneva. Further, Mr. Warida successfully completed the requirements of a PhD in Law from Queen Mary, University of London.
Olga Dios (2005-2006)
Ms. Olga Dios, from Paraguay, obtained her B.A. (Summa cum laude-Valedictorian) from the Catholic University of Asuncion, Paraguay. Subsequently she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., where she obtained an LL.M. in International Legal Studies.
Ms. Dios worked for the Paraguayan Ministry of Trade and Industry on matters related to international trade and WTO Law, regional trade agreements, Mercosur as well as with the draft of Competition Law. She has been a negotiator for the Paraguayan government in regional trade forums. She coordinated the work for the last Trade Policy Review of Paraguay before the WTO in April 2005. She has also worked for a private law firm in Paraguay, in matters related to international business law, contracts, public biddings, environmental law and intellectual property rights.
Since 2000, Ms. Dios has been a registered legal practitioner with the Supreme Court of Paraguay. She speaks fluent Spanish, English and French and has a knowledge of Portuguese.
Upon completing her secondment in 2006, Ms. Dios returned to Paraguay, where she is Director of Energy Resources at the Vice-Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Public Works and Communication.
Mpho Palime (2005-2006)
Ms Mpho Palime, from Lesotho, studied law at the National University of Lesotho where she obtained a Diploma in Law in 1987, a B.A. in Law in 1990 and an LL.B. in 1992. Upon completion of her studies she joined the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Lesotho in September 1992 as Legal Officer.
During this time she worked on a range of legal issues related to both internal and external trade, and negotiations of various regional trade agreements to which Lesotho is a member. In January 2001 she was seconded to the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana. Her responsibilities included overseeing the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Trade. In February 2003, she rejoined the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Lesotho as Principal Legal Officer and she became part of the SACU delegation in the negotiation of various FTAs, mainly the SACU - US FTA negotiations. Upon completing her secondment in 2006, Ms. Palime resumed her duties as Chief Legal Officer in Lesotho’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.
In August 2007, Ms. Palime left the service of the Government of Lesotho and took up a position as a legal officer in the secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional organisation made up of 15 member States including 8 LDCs.