The ABA Rule of Law Initiative was established in 2007 by the American Bar Association to consolidate its five overseas rule of law programs, including the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA CEELI), which was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Today, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) implements legal reform programs in 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa.
ABA ROLI has nearly 700 people, some working in the United States, but most serving abroad, including professional and local staff of the American Bar Association, plus a cadre of short- and long-term expatriate volunteers. Over the past 20 years, these volunteers have contributed more than $200 million in pro bono technical legal assistance. ABA ROLI's local partners include judges, lawyers, bar associations, law schools, court administrators, prosecutors, legislatures, ministries of justice, human rights organizations and other members of civil society.
While ABA ROLI implements technical assistance programs in areas, including commercial and property law reform, programs are concentrated in seven areas. [1]
Since 1990, ABA ROLI has worked in more than 70 countries. Today, ABA ROLI operates a range of legal technical assistance programs in more than 40 countries. Some examples include ABA ROLI's program in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where mobile court and other programs help combat the rape epidemic. In the Philippines, ABA ROLI partners with the Supreme Court to offer trainings on the recently established small claims courts. In Armenia, they work with public defenders and the legal aid community to better represent those accused of crimes. ABA ROLI offers judicial exchange programs for judges and court professionals in Ecuador, which allow them to observe the accusatorial justice system in action. In Jordan, they work with law schools and professional associations to enhance the availability of continuing legal education for young lawyers.
ABA ROLI's overseas work is supported by legal research and assessments. The program conducts assessments of draft legislation at the request of host country partners, conducts legal research, produces resource guides on rule of law issues, and develops and implements assessment tools.
ABA ROLI has developed the following assessment tools: Judicial Reform Index; Legal Profession Reform Index; Prosecutorial Reform Index; Legal Education Reform Index; Human Trafficking Assessment Tool, based on the anti-human trafficking protocol to the United Nations (UN) Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; ICCPR Index, based on the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the CEDAW Assessment Tool, based on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
ABA ROLI has conducted 50 assessments in 20 countries using these tools, all of which are publicly available and are regularly relied upon by local reformers, technical assistance providers, international donors and scholars.
Each year, the ABA Rule of Law Award recognizes rule of law champion from around the world. Award recipients include:
Pro bono publico, usually shortened to pro bono, is a Latin phrase that means for the public good.
Justice Vaidyanathapuram Rama Krishna Iyer was an Indian judge who became a pioneer of judicial activism. He pioneered the legal-aid movement in the country. Before that, he was a state minister and politician. As an activist lawyer, he served jail terms for the cause of his poor and underprivileged clients. He was seen as an ardent human-rights activist. In addition, he campaigned for social justice and the environment. A sports enthusiast and a prolific author, he was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. His judgements continue to be cited in the higher judiciary.
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students; it is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. As of fiscal year 2017, the ABA had 194,000 dues-paying members, constituting approximately 14.4% of American attorneys. In 1979, half of all lawyers in the U.S. were members of the ABA. The organization's national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois, and it also maintains a significant branch office in Washington, D.C.
Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the law school of Loyola University Chicago, in Illinois. Established in 1909, by the Society of Jesus, the Roman Catholic order of the Jesuits, the School of Law is located in downtown Chicago. Loyola University Chicago School of Law offers degrees and combined degree programs, including the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.).
James Andrew Wynn is an American jurist. He serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and formerly served on both the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court of Nepal is the highest court in Nepal. It has appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the seven High Courts and extraordinary original jurisdiction. The court consists of twenty Justices and one Chief Justice.
The Supreme Court of Georgia represents the court of the highest and final administration of justice in the country. It was established in 2005 as the cassation instance court. It is located in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in a building designed by Aleksander Szymkiewicz and built in 1894.
The University of Texas School of Law is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest acceptance rate among all U.S. law schools for the class of 2022—with an acceptance rate of 17.5%. According to Texas Law’s 2019 disclosures, 90 percent of the Class of 2019 obtained full-time, long-term bar passage required/JD advantage employment nine months after graduation.
The University Law College, Bangalore University, popularly known as ULC - Bangalore, is a legal education institution located in the city of Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
The State Bar of Michigan is the governing body for lawyers in the State of Michigan. Membership is mandatory for attorneys who practice law in Michigan. The organization's mission is to aid in promoting improvements in the administration of justice and advancements in jurisprudence, improving relations between the legal profession and the public, and promoting the interests of the legal profession in Michigan.
The Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, until 2017 Istituto Superiore Internazionale di Scienze Criminali (ISISC) is a not-for-profit organisation located in Syracuse, Italy, that was established in 1972. The organisation specializes in the design and implementation of human rights, rule of law, justice and capacity building projects throughout the world. The organisation pays particular attention to such issues that arise from situations in Arab and Muslim countries.
Nimfa Cuesta Vilches was a Senior Deputy Court Administrator (DCA) at the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was a regional trial court judge in Manila until her appointment as Assistant Court Administrator in 2006 and as DCA in 2008. She was a family law expert in the Philippines and in the international legal community.
The history of human rights in Argentina is affected by the Dirty War and its aftermath. The Dirty War, a civic-military dictatorship comprising state-sponsored violence against Argentine citizenry from roughly 1976 to 1983, carried out primarily by Jorge Rafael Videla's military government. However, the human rights situation in Argentina has improved since.
Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF), also known as Advocaten Zonder Grenzen or Lawyers without Borders, is an international NGO, active in the human rights and development sector. Created in 1992 by a group of Belgian lawyers, ASF’s main objective is the realisation of institutions and mechanisms that facilitate access to independent and fair justice systems that ensure legal security and guarantee fundamental human rights for everyone.
Victims' rights are legal rights afforded to victims of crime. These may include the right to restitution, the right to a victims' advocate, the right not to be excluded from criminal justice proceedings, and the right to speak at criminal justice proceedings.
Women in law describes the role played by women in the legal profession and related occupations, which includes lawyers, paralegals, prosecutors, judges, legal scholars, law professors and law school deans.
The CEELI Institute is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization for advancing the rule of law. It was founded in 1999 and located at the Villa Grebovka, Prague, Czech Republic. In July 2022, Russia designated CEELI Institute as an "undesirable organisation".
Ayesha A. Malik is a Pakistani judge. She is the first female judge of the Supreme Court in the history of Pakistan. On 6 January 2022, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan approved her appointment to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. She took her oath of office on 24 January 2022. Malik has also served as a Judge of the Lahore High Court in Pakistan from 27 March 2012 to 5 January 2022.
Dr. Ananda Mohan Bhattarai is a Nepalese judge. He is currently a justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal.
Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh is the regulatory and statutorily representative body for lawyers practicing law in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It was constituted as per the mandatory requirement as per Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India. In March 1953, the 'All India Bar Committee', headed by S. R. Das, submitted a report which proposed the creation of a bar council for each state and an all-India bar council as an apex body. Members of the Bar Council are elected from among members enrolled and practicing as lawyers in the state of Andhra Pradesh and they represent the state in Bar Council of India meetings. Bar Council of a place designs standards of professional conduct to be followed by members, and designs etiquettes and has the power to enforce disciplinary guidelines over the members of bar council.