Featured Story

Environmental Public Participation from Wisconsin to Guizhou

Jeff Smoller from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (second from left) touring a steel coking plant in Guizhou's Liu Pan Shui City

F rom April 15 to 28, representatives from five U.S. environmental institutions visited China with the help of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) to work closely with their Chinese counterparts on local projects to increase public participation in environmental decision-making in China.

This program, called Citizen Participation, Accountability and Transparency in Environmental Decision-Making in China, is co-sponsored by the Center for Environmental Education and Communication of China’s newly-elevated Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). “We are trying to provide institutional support for public participation,” stated Bie Tao, Deputy Director-General of MEP’s Policy and Legislation Department.

In the first phase of the program, which took place in summer 2007, ten Chinese environmental officials and advocates came to the U.S. In this second phase, U.S. participants visited China.  The U.S. participants were Michelle Perrault from the Sierra Club, Jeff Smoller from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Al Chun representing US EPA Region 9, Ed Wong from the California EPA, and Susan Casey-Lefkowitz from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). 

Following a week of meetings in Beijing with the MEP, national-level environmental NGOs, and leaders of China’s environmental bar, the U.S. participants dispersed to four local sites, each hosted by a different institution: the Shenyang City Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), the Xi’an City EPB, the Guizhou Provincial EPB, and the Chongqing Green Earth Volunteers League, an environmental NGO. Each site focused on a different facet of public participation. 

In Shenyang, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz and Ed Wong provided technical assistance to the Shenyang EPB on implementation of China’s first access to government information regulations.  In Xi’an, Al Chun participated in an innovative roundtable dialogue program that is creating new channels of communication between environmental agencies and local communities.  Michele Perrault shared environmental advocacy strategies with student activists in Chongqing.  And in Guizhou, Jeff Smoller laid the groundwork for long-term cooperation between the Guizhou EPB and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  Both Guizhou and Wisconsin have lake systems that require specialized management, and both have minority communities whose engagement is important for effective natural resources management. 

“This program was an important opportunity to advance joint learning between the U.S. and China, and together to address common environmental problems,” said Peng Bin, an official with the Guizhou EPB.

The Chinese and U.S. participants kept journals and photos of their experiences.  The Chinese journals are available at http://www.chinaeol.net/zmhj/default_en.asp (English translations) and http://www.chinaeol.net/zmhj/xwdt.htm (Chinese).  The U.S. participants’ journals will be available by the end of this month at the same web address.

Middle East and North Africa

Podcast: Bridging Social Divisions in Lebanon

A tank outside McDonald’s in Beirut symbolizes the ongoing tensions in Lebanon, tensions which ABA ROLI’s legal clinic seeks to quell by bringing law students and disadvantaged populations into contact and cooperation.

In Lebanon, a country with half a million refugees, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative’s (ABA ROLI) legal clinic gets at the heart of ongoing tensions between different social groups. For Lebanese law students at La Sagesse University, participating in the clinic was an opportunity to work on cases with Lebanese NGOs and learn from people with whom they might otherwise never connect. Some of the students, for example, met with inmates in a juvenile prison and others visited a Palestinian refugee camp, meeting refugees for the first time.

Aline Matta, Director of ABA ROLI’s programs in Lebanon, narrates the story of how students in their final year of law school started out somewhat cynical and ended up, through their clinical experience, becoming devoted advocates for social justice and the rule of law.

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Europe and Eurasia

Introducing Armenia’s First Legal Writing Textbook

Cover of Armenia’s first textbook on Legal Writing and Analysis

Yerevan State University Law School (YSU) with ABA ROLI’s assistance has developed and published Armenia’s first textbook on Legal Writing and Analysis. The textbook is intended for practical use and may serve as a guide for the instruction of writing and document drafting rules. As well, it can be used by other Armenian law schools, who intend to incorporate similar courses into their curriculum.

The curricula of Armenian law schools do not have a course addressing the need of developing the writing skills of the students. Today this gap has become even more pronounced, as the process of approximation of the common and Romano-Germanic laws has assumed new magnitude and shape.

Bearing in mind the gaps in Armenian law schools curricula, ABA ROLI initiated a Core Curriculum Reform project with YSU to introduce new practical courses at including Legal writing and Analyses.

Last summer selected professors from YSU underwent an intensive training program at William and Mary Law School in Virginia. The goal of the study tour was to develop well-trained faculty members who will be able to effectively teach the course back in Armenia and to develop a textbook. 

The manual was co-authored by Professor James Moliterno from William and Mary Law School and Professors Ruben Melikyan and Davit  Melkonyan from YSU. It was based on the textbook by Moliterno and Lederer titled An Introduction to Law, Law Study and the Lawyer’s Role.

At present the Legal Writing course will be offered only to LLM students. In the near future a similar course will be included in the curriculum of the JD program.

Successful Reform Efforts Underway in the Russian Far East

The Vladivostok office of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) has launched several successful initiatives over the past few months with USAID support.  Having the advantage of being a small office in the biggest and one of the most progressive cities of the Russian Far East (RFE), the office has managed a series of innovative projects that have created avenues for legal and social progress. These include a sex-trafficking training and law school curriculum, a traveling lawyers program, a jury trial training, and a human rights law conference.

In August 2007, the ABA conducted a training with consular officers about sex trafficking.  The goal was to train personnel who issue visas about characteristics of trafficking and what action to take.  The pilot training was then revised and packaged as a stand alone training which any consular office could do in any country with the addition of local information and resources.  Additionally, a sex trafficking curriculum for law students was developed and is currently being taught by four Russian professors at the Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok.  After being tested in spring 2008, it will be revised and made into a stand alone curriculum with teaching methods, interactive techniques, audio visual aids, and evaluation materials and marketed to other universities.

The traveling lawyers program, while not a new concept, is one way to disseminate resources throughout the vast RFE.  After intensive training of local lawyers, the program rolled out in December 2007 with its first two day program in a nearby city of Nakhodka.  Trainings then followed in Ussuriisk and Khabarovsk in spring 2008.   The program has several goals:  developing experienced trainers in the RFE, training lawyers in the regions about Gender Based Violence with very practical legal education, developing a pro bono culture, giving free consultations to victims and meeting with local officials.  While the first three goals have been met, the last two remain elusive.  The infrastructure for grass roots participation does not exist and though the program has strong ties to the Ombudsman’s and social services offices in the regions, other sectors of government have been less responsive. 

As jury trials are fairly new to the RFE, another goal of the ABA program in Vladivostok has been to increase the skills of lawyers in this arena.  The ABA has undertaken a series of seminars focusing specifically on certain skills such as strategic planning, opening and closing statements, and direct- and cross-examination to strengthen and deepen the skills of the local defense bar. 

In February, in collaboration with the Pacific Ocean State Economics University, the ABA hosted the first ever human rights and law conference in Vladivostok.  February also saw the beginning of a new collaboration with IREX to bring public awareness to college level students on domestic violence, child abuse and sex trafficking. A series of two-day seminars have been held in Khabarovsk and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskii with 30 to 35 students.  As a testament to the quality of the ABA Vladivostok programming, both students and professors have praised the content and method of delivery of the material, which is rarely discussed but sorely needed in their education.

Asia

China’s First On-line Skills Training Courses for Criminal Defense Lawyers

From right to left: Cheng Lei, Program Officer for the ABA-ROLI China Program, and trainers Xu Xiaoping and Zhang Bin introduce the online training methodology in Lanzhou (Gansu Province).

The ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) and the Criminal Law Committee of the All China Lawyers Association have launched China’s first on-line skills training courses for criminal defense lawyers.  These courses will target lawyers in western China, where barriers of distance and geography have isolated lawyers from the training resources and other professional development opportunities available in more developed areas, and hindered the development of a strong criminal defense bar. 

The curriculum for this first set of pilot courses focuses on basic defense skills, including client interviewing, and the investigation and presentation of evidence.  Five cohorts of 20-25 students each, recruited from Shaanxi Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Gansu Province, will participate in the five-week pilot curriculum.  The emphasis is on the development of practical skills, and trainees learn through background reading materials, video demonstrations, and classroom discussions conducted in real time through a chat room function.

With the spread of internet access through even relatively remote areas of western China, there is now an opportunity to make training opportunities accessible on a scale not previously possible. As one trainee noted, “Online training doesn’t have time and space limitations.”

For First Time, Cambodia Sends Team to International Legal Competition

The Cambodian team poses with the Scotland team after the competition.

On April 1–6, 2008, ABA ROLI sponsored Cambodia’s first law student participation in an international competition.  Two Cambodian law students, accompanied by a BAKC (Cambodian Bar Association) coach and a RULE (Royal University of Law and Economics) faculty representative, competed in the International Client Counseling Competition held this year at the National Law School, Bangalore, India.  The PRAJ Legal Education Advisor Steven Austermiller and USAID representative Seng Rethy also attended.

The competition featured teams from 18 countries (including the U.S., England, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Russia) and two observer teams (Puerto Rico and Cayman Islands) and totaled more than 100 participants.  The competition places teams of law students in a simulated law office environment where they are challenged to conduct a counseling session with a “client” that is played by an actor.  Their performances were scored by international judges.  The students learned to employ important practical legal skills such as active listening, interrogation, empathy, issue spotting, legal analysis, problem solving and teamwork.  This year, the team from Northern Ireland was the winner and the team from Russia was runner up.

In India, the Cambodia team participated in the first two rounds.  In the first round, Cambodia was up against Hong Kong and Scotland.  The judges were very impressed with the Cambodian performance and Cambodia finished second in that group behind Scotland and ahead of the Hong Kong team.  In the second round, the Cambodian team was up against two of the strongest teams, team USA and the eventual champions, Northern Ireland.  The Cambodian team finished third in that group, but it was an excellent opportunity for the students to compete against some of the brightest law students in the world. 

On the final day of competition, the Cambodian team had the opportunity to watch three semi-final and three final round performances from the various countries.  This was another invaluable experience that will help them in their future efforts.

The Cambodian team that was sent to India consisted of two third-year female students from RULE: Nearirath Sreng and Sonita Khun. After winning the Cambodian competition, the students worked with ABA ROLI’s Steve Austermiller and PRAJ Project Officer Peng Sokunthea worked with the students and coach to help prepare the Cambodian team for the international competition.  Their hard work paid off and they were very pleased with their performance.  The judges and sponsors commented that they were very impressed with the professionalism and enthusiasm of the Cambodian delegation.   

The Client Counseling Competition is part of the PRAJ Legal Education Program in Cambodia.  The program focuses partly on assistance to law schools.  The competition is an example of the creative and exciting new methods used to teach law students important practical skills that are not being effectively taught in Cambodian law schools.  These skills will make for more effective advocates in the Cambodian justice system.

Research Log

ABA ROLI Survey Shows Economic Potential of Misdemeanor Court in Serbia

Misdemeanor Court Survey - The survey found that Serbia's Misdemeanor Court can be a significant source of revenue if administered correctly.

In March 2008, Belgrade’s Media Center, the Association of Magistrates of the Republic of Serbia (MAS), and ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) organized the roll-out of the Economic Aspect of Misdemeanor Court Survey. The surveyexplored the economic impact ofcases fully executed by first or second instance courtsin 2006 and the first six months of 2007 in the entire territory of Serbia (excluding Kosovo and Metohija). The results of the survey demonstrated that if properly applied, the misdemeanor court could have contributed 48.6 million Euros to the State Budget in 2006.

The roll-out event was opened by Snezana Malovic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, whose representatives where also involved in the survey.  Besides misdemeanor judges, about 30 representatives of other State bodies, mostly Ministries, who are authorized to initiate misdemeanor procedures, where present at the event, including the Ministries of Finance, Labor, Interior, Social Welfare and Environment. 10 media outlets reported from this event. The results of the Survey were presented by Zoran Pasalic, President of the Managing Board of the MAS. 

This survey compiled information on the following: number of completed cases, number and amount of total collected fines and executed prison sanctions, number of cases in which sanctions were lessened, and the number of cases waiting for forced execution at the end of 2006 and on June 30, 2007. The survey also measured the extent to which individuals, business and other entities are subject to misdemeanor sanctions in order to determine whether there is a need for the eventual change of legal provisions.

The results of the survey demonstrated that the court could contribute much to the Serbia state budget, more than any other judicial bodies contributing to the Budget of the Republic of Serbia. It would be the third largest source of revenue, just after taxes and customs (misdemeanor bodies contributions all the courts finance themselves, all the Prosecutors’ Offices in the country, The Republic Public Defenders' Offices, as well as the Supreme Court). The Survey financially justified the operation of the Misdemeanor Courts’ existence and the upcoming integration into the judiciary in the near future will lead to more complex cases, both for judges and initiators of misdemeanors.

The Survey was designed by Slavica Brkic and Zoran Pasalic, Belgrade misdemeanor judges, in cooperation with ABA ROLI Staff Attorney Nikola Vojnovic.  The research period extended from November 2007 to February 2008, with 143 municipal misdemeanor bodies and 10 second instance panels participating in the project.