[August 30, 2011]

Golden Gate University School of Law and the International Association of Women Judges Announce 2011-12 Graduate Fellow

Golden Gate University School of Law (Golden Gate Law) and the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) proudly announce the selection of their second annual International Women Judges Graduate Fellow, Ms. Njeri Thuku of Kenya. The International Women Judges Graduate Fellowship was established in 2010 to advance issues involving international women's rights and the role of women in justice systems around the world.

Fellowship recipient Magistrate Njeri Thuku is a Resident Magistrate in Kisii in southwest Kenya where she also serves in one of three Children's Courts. Passionate about giving a voice to the voiceless, Ms. Thuku has helped train judicial officers in the Kenya Women Judges Association (KWJA) Jurisprudence Equality Program and in partnership with two other judges and a magistrate, Ms. Thuku prepared and presented a paper on 'Juvenile Justice' at the 6th Biennial Conference of the Africa Region of the International Association of Women Judges Conference held in Livingstone, Zambia in April 2011.

"The Law School welcomes Magistrate Thuku and we look forward to learning about the Kenyan justice system while creting opportunities to link her into the Bay Area's international law and judicial community," says Drucilla Ramey, dean at Golden Gate Law.

Initiated at Golden Gate Law in partnership with the IAWJ, the annual fellowship program sponsors a woman jurist from a developing country who is selected to pursue an individualized course of study and earn a graduate law degree while engaging in a series of GGU Law programs in order to educate and enrich local legal communities.

Ms. Thuku received her Bachelor of Law with a minor in Economics from Keele University-U.K., a Diploma in Law from Kenya School of Law, an Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management from TEC Institute-Kenya (an affiliate of the Association of Business Executives, U.K.) and a Certificate in Mediation and Arbitration from the International Law Institute (in collaboration with Georgetown University-Washington, D.C.).

"The IAWJ is delighted to be partnering with Golden Gate Law in this program. This is a wonderful opportunity for outstanding women judges from developing countries to earn an LLM degree and to network with women judges and the entire legal community in San Francisco and beyond," says Joan Winship, IAWJ Executive Director.

The fellowship is also aided with generous financial support from attorneys Elizabeth Cabraser, of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and Robert Kaufman, former president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and a partner at Proskauer Rose LLP.

Founded in 1901, Golden Gate University School of Law offers a variety of programs for beginning law students and practicing lawyers. GGU Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State of California and is a member in good standing of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). Golden Gate University is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

The International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of more than 4,000 members at all judicial levels in more than 102 nations. The IAWJ believes that women judges are in a unique position to impact the rights of women through the judicial system, and to protect and empower women throughout the world. Through pioneering judicial education programs and worldwide collaboration, the IAWJ is working to advance human rights, eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender and make courts accessible to all.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]