Building on the success of the first Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop held in December 2024 which marked a key milestone in introducing modern teaching methodologies and learner-centred approaches to the People’s Supreme Court (PSC) training centre, a second TOT was conducted from 2-6 June 2025 in Vientiane, with support from the JuSTICE Project funded by AFD.
The Justice Project, which aims to enhance training methodology for legal practitioners, directly supports the PSC’s 2025 priority to strengthens its Research and Training Centre through targeted, sustainable, and high-quality training interventions.
The workshop brought together 25 judges from the People’s Supreme Court (PSC) representing various chambers and areas of specialisation ranging from criminal law to commercial law. It was facilitated by international judicial training experts Dr. Lawrence Siry, a former public defender and prosecutor in New York and Dr. Hajer Rouidi, a French-Tunisian lawyer and Associate Professor in France specialised in criminal law. Both experts contributed extensive practical and academic experience, having supported multiple legal capacity-building initiatives in Lao PDR.
The training deepened participants’ understanding of adult learning principles, strengthened practical skills in problem-based learning, introduced tools such as mock trials and moot courts. It also supported the development of effective, skills-based training plans, and integrated analytical frameworks such as IRAC (Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion) into judicial reasoning and teaching practices. Participants were highly engaged throughout the workshop, actively taking part in practical exercises including group discussions, plenary presentations, role plays, case scenario development, and training plan design.
Following this second TOT, 20–25 judges and court officials who participated in the first and second workshops will be selected as core master trainers. These trainers will receive further support during a final TOT, scheduled for July 2025. The PSC’s trainers will then later in the year lead a pilot training for trainee judges respectively. The focus on interactive and practical methodologies ensures the training is not only informative but also transferable to their future roles as judicial trainers.
