About SIASIC

ABOUT SIASIC

Strathmore Institute of Advanced Studies in International Criminal Justice (SIASIC), is an institute dedicated to strengthening capacities of criminal justice practitioners, the legal infrastructure in Kenya and the African region in international criminal justice. We do this through capacity-building trainings, applied research, and academic teaching. We are housed under the Strathmore Law School Faculty in Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya.

Our areas of expertise include transnational and organized crime, armed conflict and international crimes, terrorism, sexual and gender based violence, wildlife crimes, transitional justice and the rule of law.

SIASIC has a global network of senior practitioners and employs a multi-disciplinary and solution-oriented approach to international and complex criminality. Further, we strive to accomplish our goals by fostering cooperation among stakeholders to harness synergies and build bridges. These aspects are what make SIASIC distinctive.

SIASIC also has an Advisory Board composed of leading international and African experts in international criminal justice supporting its functions.

Under the Institute, we have a Wildlife Centre to support our efforts in the fight against wildlife crimes and a Gender Centre that promotes our work related to sexual and gender based violence both during armed conflict and during peacetime. The Gender Centre has recently launched a database that constitutes organizations from Eastern and Southern Africa that deal with sexual and gender based violence and also indicates their activities and specialties.

Mission & Strategy

Mission

To strengthen the rule of law by strengthening the capacities of criminal justice professionals.

SIASIC goes beyond traditional models to serve the real-world needs of practitioners by bringing together academia, training, research and professional engagement.

Strategy

SIASIC is focused on the real-world challenges of investigating and prosecuting serious crimes and aims to equip criminal justice professionals with the necessary practical tools and skills.

Thematic areas

SIASIC focuses primarily on areas that have posed challenges to the African continent as a whole. These are:

Armed Conflict and International Crime
Transnational & Organized Crime
Transitional Justice & the Rule of Law
Terrorism
Wildlife Crime
Sexual and gender based violence crime

WHAT WE DO:

Professional Training: SIASIC offers specialized training to criminal justice practitioners at every stage of their careers. The centerpiece of SIASIC’s training programs is the “Advanced Training on the Prosecution of International Crimes” summer course, a one week training program for professionals. It aims at providing criminal practitioners with an integrated training that addresses a broad range of the investigative, evidentiary and practical issues and skills that commonly feature in an international criminal prosecution.

Applied Research: SIASIC offers partners the capability to conduct applied research in the fields of criminal justice, peace and security, armed conflict, transitional justice and the rule of law. Members of the SIASIC faculty have undertaken research and provided technical advice to organizations including the European Union, the Council of Europe, the International Organization for Migration and others.

Undergraduate Education: As part of the Strathmore Law School, SIASIC provides undergraduate lectures in International Humanitarian and Criminal Law, Human Rights Law, Public International Law and Sexual and Gender Based Violence. SIASIC also offers inter-disciplinary elective courses to students in other Strathmore University Departments.

Postgraduate Education: SIASIC offers a recently began Master of Laws (LLM) degree in International Criminal Justice.

Conferences and Publications: SIASIC publishes an annual peer-viewed journal. Its objectives is to encourage the free transmission of information and ideas between practitioners in Africa and promotes the development of practical, real-world solutions to challenges in the African Criminal justice sector.

Community Development: achieving our mission also means promoting further development of local, national and regional legal communities as well as ensuring that the legal community is deeply integrated into the civil society. SIASIC works with law societies in the region to improve professional standards, ensure that best practices and lessons learned are widely disseminated.