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Legal Profession Reform

Background

During an October 2009 training on the European Convention on Human Rights, Armenian legal professionals prepare for a mock trial exercise.
During an October 2009 training on the European Convention on Human Rights, Armenian legal professionals prepare for a mock trial exercise.

By providing technical assistance on trial advocacy skills, law practice management and substantive areas of the law, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) works to enhance the professionalism and expertise of lawyers in host countries. Through its Legal Profession Reform Index, ABA ROLI helps countries assess their legal profession reform efforts. ABA ROLI also helps legal professional associations, including special interest bar associations, develop into sustainable organizations, which can train their members while advocating on their behalf.

Our legal profession reform work emphasizes the following areas:

Bar association development:

ABA ROLI works to develop effective and sustainable bar associations capable of providing a core set of services that are crucial to the advancement of the legal profession. We have supported the establishment of national bar associations, providing them with long-term institutional support, including in developing ethics codes and disciplinary procedures. We have also supported the development and administrations of bar examinations.

Substantive legal training:

To address the widespread lack of resources and opportunities for continuing legal education, ABA ROLI provides training and technical expertise on trial advocacy skills, law practice management and court procedures. Trainings also address legal ethics standards, alternative dispute resolution, civil and criminal procedure code reforms, property and housing law and international human rights. These programs strengthen the practical skills of legal professionals while increasing their substantive knowledge of the law.

Assessments:

In order to fine tune its legal profession reform programs to the needs of participating countries, ABA ROLI strives to understand the status of legal professionals and the environment in which they are expected to develop and practice.  ABA ROLI accomplishes this by implementing the Legal Profession Reform Index (LPRI) to assess the strengths and weaknesses that may exist within the legal profession in a particular host country.  Since its inception, ABA ROLI has conducted LPRI assessments in 14 countries, and provided follow-up assessments in six of those countries.

Program Highlights

Bar association development

James A. A. Pierre Judicial Institute Graduates First Group of Liberian Trainers--March, 2009.
James A. A. Pierre Judicial Institute Graduates First Group of Liberian Trainers--March, 2009.

In Liberia, ABA ROLI has supported the Liberian National Bar Association. The association is, through ABA ROLI subgrant, working on developing a continuing legal education program for current attorneys.

In Armenia, ABA ROLI facilitated the creation of a unified bar association, convening a meeting at which Armenian lawyers adopted a charter, passed a code of ethics and elected officers for the new organization. Since 2001, ABA ROLI has worked with the bar association to create and administer a bar exam in Armenia. In 2009, the Armenian Bar Association conducted the examination, with minimal ABA ROLI technical support. ABA ROLI continues to support the association as it works to computerize the exam to enhance its objectivity and transparency.

In China, ABA ROLI is supporting the All China Lawyers Association in strengthening its members’ public interest advocacy capacity. Areas of collaboration have included children’s rights and enforcement of environmental laws and criminal justice reform.

Substantive legal training

In Moldova, ABA ROLI works with the U.S. Embassy’s resident legal advisor to provide trial advocacy skills training for both prosecutors and defense lawyers. Working with members of the Moldovan Bar Association, ABA ROLI utilizes interactive teaching methods and materials adapted to Moldovan criminal law, criminal procedure and judicial practice.

ABA ROLI’s mediation program in Mexico, originally meant to do a pilot project in one state, has reached 22 of the 32 Mexican states. We trained more than 400 mediators, with 24 of them receiving further training to enable them to provide future trainings. The program assisted in opening 18 mediation centers, in rewriting legislation to allow court-annexed mediation and in providing specialized trainings in family mediation.
At the request of the Rwandan Ministry of Justice, ABA ROLI developed a program to support institutional capacity building. It coordinated integrated training and supported legal institutions to increase access to justice.

Assessment Tools

The Legal Profession Reform Index (LPRI) is one of the many assessment tools ABA ROLI has developed. It provides an empirical basis for examining the competence and independence of legal professionals in emerging democracies and transitioning states and the conduciveness of the environment in which they practice. The LPRI relies on comparative legal traditions and international standards established by the United Nations, the Council of Europe and other organizations on professional freedoms and guarantees, legal education and training, admission to the legal profession, conditions and standards of law practice and legal services, and the role of lawyer associations in legal reform. Not only does the LPRI guide the ABA ROLI in the development of more informed and targeted programming, but it also empowers legal professionals to take a more active role in promoting legal reforms and the rule of law. In addition, the LPRI offers partner organizations, technical assistance providers, policymakers and the diplomatic community invaluable information on the status of legal profession and reform in host countries.

Contact Information

Publications

ABA ROLI’s Research and Assessments Office designs legal assessment tools, and conducts legislative assessments and compiles reports at the request of host countries. So far, we have implemented the following Legal Profession Reform Index assessments:

Armenia

Georgia

Kosovo

Moldova

Click here to view a complete list of our Legal Profession Reform Index assessments.

External Resources

In developing its legal profession reform programs, publications and assessments, ABA ROLI relies on a number of legal resources. Some of those materials, which are useful in assessing domestic and international standards and in identifying best practices and professional ethics and responsibility, include:


Lawyer Rules:

Judicial Rules:

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