Featured Story
ABA ROLI Helping to Launch the First Training Center for Judges in Liberia
 |
Liberia’s Temple of Justice, prospective home of the Judicial Training Institute |
T he Supreme Court of Liberia, together with USAID, has tasked the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) with planning and developing a new Judicial Training Institute (JTI) for the country’s judges, lawyers, and court personnel. This is part of a long term strategy for improving the administration of courts and the provision of justice in the West African country.
There are more than 300 magistrates in Liberia, but only 5 have a law degree (source), which is a basic requirement for the position under Liberian law. Many ad hoc appointments to the bench have been made, with the result that the rule of law has suffered from a weak judiciary in the country.
To confront this challenge, the Supreme Court of Liberia organized a steering committee in 2007 involving members of the Liberian judiciary and government, as well as UNDP, ILAC, PAE, UNMIL, and ABA ROLI, with the idea of creating a Judicial Training Institute. The Judicial Training Institute will be owned by the government of Liberia, but the task of developing and drafting the administrative structure and training curricula falls to ABA ROLI.
“Right now, the bulk of the project is identifying an expert who can liaise with the steering committee and spearhead the planning process,” explains Andrew McPherson of ABA ROLI’s Africa Division. This expert, once selected, will leverage ABA ROLI’s previous expertise in building judicial training institutes such as in Ethiopia where the program focuses on strengthening the pre-existing JTIs in Addis Ababa and its outlying regions.
The first priority for the institute will be training and developing Liberia’s magistrates, followed by offering continuing legal education for lawyers, and also training bailiffs and clerks. Ultimately, the goal is to house the training institute in Liberia’s Temple of Justice in Monrovia.
Middle East and North Africa
Jordan’s Applied Science University First to Adopt More Skill-Building Legal Curriculum
 |
| Kathryn Ainsworth, Senior Deputy Regional Director, with the Law Faculty Dean and the President of Applied Science University |
At the March 2007 Conference, stakeholders agreed that law faculties should increase credit hours to 141, and add practical skills building courses such as “Legal Research and Writing,” and “Legal English.” ABA ROLI has been working with a committee of professors from several Jordanian universities to develop these two courses.
As part of ABA ROLI efforts to roll out the completed Legal Research and Writing course, staff is meeting with the administration of law faculties to discuss the integration of this new course within Jordanian law curriculum. On March 12, 2008, the President and the Law Faculty Dean of the Applied Science University hosted staff to discuss continued cooperation with ABA ROLI in legal education reform efforts. He approved the use of the legal research and writing course name and materials at his law faculty for the next academic year. “Legal Research and Writing” will be a mandatory course.
Applied Science will be among the first law faculties in the Kingdom to teach this new course. The President of the University indicated that he and his colleagues were impressed with experts speaking on the need to adopt more interactive, practical courses and activities during last year’s national legal education conference organized by ABA ROLI in Jordan. Convinced that stakeholders will eventually push for all universities to adopt the conference recommendations, including increased credit hours, they decided to commence plans to implement the recommendations at the Applied Science University. The University has already begun teaching a new ADR course, which includes materials developed by ABA experts. The Dean indicated that “Legal English” was also added as a mandatory course, and the University is waiting for the curriculum committee to develop materials for this new course.
Forging New Ties in Algeria and Qatar
 |
| (Photo credit: Gulf Times) Dean Hassan Alsayed and Judge Robert Henry signing the agreement at the College of Law of Qatar. |
The ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) has bolstered its partnerships in the Middle East and North Africa region by signing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with key partners in Qatar and Algeria.
On March 26, 2008, ABA ROLI signed an MOU with key partner in the region—the Qatar University College of Law. Under this agreement, ABA ROLI will undertake a review of the College based on the ABA Standards for Law School accreditation. The MOU also highlights cooperation between ABA and the College on a civic education project designed to raise awareness of the norms and values associated with the rule of law. Through this project, ABA ROLI and Qatar University hope to foster respect for individual legal rights and duties among Qatari youth. ABA-ROLI is cooperating with the ABA Division for Public Education on this activity. The MOU was signed by Hassan al-Sayed, the Dean of the College of Law, and Judge Robert Henry, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and Chairman of ABA ROLI’s Middle East and North Africa Council. Other attendees included : Judge David Ebel of the 10th Circuit; Jeffery Minear, Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; and Karen Kendrick, ABA ROLI Qatar Program Director. After the MOU signing, the delegation hosted a roundtable discussion with students and faculty.
On March 24, 2008, ABA ROLI entered into a formal agreement with the Algerian Ministry of Justice after signing an MOU that outlines a range of activities to be undertaken to support legal and judicial reform and education in Algeria. The MOU marks ABA ROLI’s success as the only American NGO to have such an agreement with the Algerian Ministry of Justice. Mr. Mabrouk Hocine, Director-General of Algeria’s judicial training institute (Ecole Superieure de la Magistrature – ESM), signed the MOU on behalf of the Algerian Ministry of Justice. Under the terms of the MOU, ABA ROLI and ESM will develop a joint cooperation program for each successive year.
The signing ceremony took place at the ESM in the presence of a number of officials, including: the Ministry of Justices’ Secretary General and Mr. Hamed-Abdelouahab, Counselor to the MOJ; the United States Ambassador to Algeria, the Honorable Robert Ford; and the President of the Algerian Syndicate of Judges.
ABA ROLI Deputy Regional Director Richard Paton and Mr. Mabrouk Hocine both gave short speeches, followed by Ambassador Ford and the Secretary General of the MOJ, each welcoming the signing of the MOU and further cooperation. The Secretary General made clear that the signing of the MOU confirmed the will of the Algerian government to be open to the outside world and take advantage of the experience of other countries to promote the development of the judicial system in Algeria. The event was widely covered in the Algerian press.
Europe and Eurasia
ABA ROLI Involved in Passage of Moldova’s First Domestic Violence Law
 |
| Country Director Stephen Larrabee addressing judges and prosecutors at Domestic Violence Training in Cahul, Moldova. |
On March 11, Moldova enacted its first legislation to protect women from domestic violence. The ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) provided key commentary and input to strengthen and improve the law during the drafting phase. USAID recognized ABA ROLI’s significant involvement in the legislative process by highlighting this work on its Europe and Eurasia website.
Surveys show that more than 40% of women in Moldova have been victims of a violent act at least once in their lifetime. What constitutes domestic violence is now defined in Moldova by law and is designated as a crime with appropriate punishments for perpetrators.
In anticipation of the law’s enactment, ABA ROLI also developed and continues to sponsor a legal aid program for domestic violence victims. The program is based in a domestic violence shelter in Moldova’s capital city, Chisinau. It provides free legal services to victims and conducts “know-your-rights” and awareness trainings, both in the shelter and in the rural regions of Moldova.
ABA ROLI’s Legal Specialists also collaborated to develop a training curriculum based on the new law for prosecutors and judges. To date, 35 judges and prosecutors have participated in these trainings, which have been held in Chisinau and the outlying regions with the cooperation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Moldovan National Institute of Justice.
The National Institute of Justice has recently requested that ABA ROLI schedule more regional trainings for judges and prosecutors on domestic violence and plans are underway for additional trainings in May. ABA ROLI is pleased to continue its support and assistance to Moldovan authorities and to its civil society partners to combat domestic violence and to aid and protect the victims of such violence.
Sixty Kosovar Law Students Successfully Complete Simulation Clinic
 |
| Mock trial at Law Faculty Student Courtroom |
Dukagjin Abdyli is one of 60 law students at the University of Pristina who participated in and completed the ABA Rule of Law Initiative’s (ABA ROLI) Simulation Legal Clinic this semester.
“I feel more comfortable in being part of a real trial now. Mock trials in which we have been practicing during the semester gave us a glimpse of a real trial and how they develop,” Adbyli says.
The Simulation Legal Clinic program is a course developed by ABA ROLI for the law school in Pristina, and has been sponsored by USAID since 2004. The clinic is now officially included in the curriculum of the Law Faculty for credits under the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)—a standard for comparing the learning attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other collaborating European countries.
The clinic is designed to help students gain practical skills needed upon becoming practicing lawyers. Under expert supervision students get trained in client interviewing, problem solving, legal analysis and research, client counseling and communication, legal theory and strategy.
The latest set of students to complete the clinic—Abdyli and his classmates—performed a criminal mock trial at the end of their semester course work. To date, approximately 300 law students have taken this clinical course, and the number continues to grow.
Research Log
Third Judicial Reform Index Launched in Kosovo
 |
| Third volume of the Kosovo Judicial Reform Index |
On March 12, 2008, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) hosted an event introducing the third volume of the Kosovo Judicial Reform Index (JRI). Approximately 150 representatives from the government, media, international community, and non-governmental organizations attended the event. Featured speakers included ABA ROLI’s Kosovo Country Director David Sip, Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Nekibe Kelmendi, as well as USAID’s Deputy Director in Kosovo, Susan Fritz.
Both Mr. Kelmendi and Ms. Fritz praised the role of the JRI in highlighting the progress of reforms and the challenges that remain for the Kosovo judiciary. Of the 30 factors measured by the JRI, 6 rated positive, 12 rated negative, and 12 rated neutral. Overall, the ratings for 7 factors improved since the publication of the second volume of the Kosovo JRI in 2004. Among the improvements discussed in the Kosovo JRI are the transfer of power to independent judicial authorities and the adoption of a new Judicial Ethics Code. Three factors—measuring the quality of judicial buildings, judicial advancement criteria, and the creation of judicial positions—demonstrated a decline since 2004. In addition to these three growing concerns, the Kosovo JRI reflects the judiciary’s continuing lack of economic resources, resulting in decaying infrastructure, case backlogs, staff shortages, and low judicial salaries. Kosovo’s rapidly evolving political status has also created difficulties related to judicial tenure and the passage of conflicting legislation.
The assessment team for the Kosovo JRI was lead by the Honorable Evelyn B. Lance. The full text of Volume III of the Kosovo JRI is available in English, Albanian, and Serbian:
Assessment of Prosecutorial Reform in Bulgaria Leads to Policy Action
 |
| At an ABA ROLI roundtable in 2008, Ambassador Elena Poptodorova listens to Prosecutor Margarita Popova explain the successes and challenges the PRI implementation committee has seen in Bulgaria. |
Ayear and a half after the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) published its Prosecutorial Reform Index (PRI) in Bulgaria, Prosecutor Margarita Popova, Chair of the PRI Implementation Committee, declared that the government has made definite progress toward improving the accountability and administration of the prosecutorial sector.
Popova’s remarks were testament to the success of ABA ROLI’s assessment tools, which have not only informed and guided reform efforts globally, but whose recommendations have actually been implemented as government policy in Bulgaria.
Less than one year before Bulgaria’s accession into the European Union, a new Prosecutor General, Boris Velchev, was appointed to a 7 year, non-renewable term. Several months later, due to this critical timing, the then Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative of the American Bar Association (ABA-CEELI) conducted its newly developed PRI in Bulgaria at the request of the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development and Training of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ-OPDAT) and funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs at the Department of State.
The findings of the Assessment were released in November 2006, accompanied by remarks from Prosecutor General Velchev: “Our American colleagues used a very analytical and thorough approach, and this report will give us the chance to find our weaknesses and strong points, and to look for the ways of overcoming these weaknesses.”
Immediately following the release of the report, Prosecutor Velchev created the Prosecutorial Reform Index Committee tasked with considering the recommendations of the PRI and soliciting feedback from prosecutors and other relevant actors in structuring a three-year strategy or “roadmap” of reform.
The Committee worked to develop an “Action Plan” for reform based on feedback received from prosecutors and other sources as to how to implement the findings of the PRI. The Committee was also tasked with monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the Action Plan. To accomplish this, the Committee designated appellate and district prosecutors directed to coordinate the implementation process and provide regular feedback and evaluative data.
Margarita Popova, who reports directly to Prosecutor Velchev regarding the implementation of the PRI as Chair of the implementation committee, said that despite challenges, the recommendations of the report were instructive and continue to serve as relevant guides to action.. OPDAT has requested that the ABA Rule of Law Initiative implement the PRI in the fall of 2008, using the 2006 assessment findings as a baseline, to formally gauge the reform progress and provide further feedback to Prosecutor General Velchev.
|
