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 more than 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa.

ABA ROLI has nearly 500 people, some working in the United States, but most serving abroad, including our professional and local staff, 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.

Programs

While ABA ROLI implements technical assistance programs in an array of substantive areas, including commercial and property law reform, programs are concentrated in seven focal areas.

• Access to justice and human rights. These programs increase access to legal services by establishing legal aid and law school clinics, developing public defender programs and supporting structural changes in the justice system that increase citizen access to the courts and other forms of dispute resolution. This work increases awareness of international human rights standards and humanitarian law, as well as trains legal professionals to seek redress for human rights violations in domestic, regional and international courts.
• Anti-corruption and public integrity. ABA ROLI programs focus on drafting and implementing public integrity standards and freedom of information laws, developing national action plans, conducting public education campaigns on the corrosive impact of corruption, and encouraging the public to combat corruption through mechanisms such as anonymous hotlines.
• Criminal law reform and anti-human trafficking. These programs train criminal justice professionals—including judges, prosecutors and police—to combat crimes such as human trafficking, money laundering and cybercrime, while helping to reform key criminal law legislation, including criminal procedure codes.
• Judicial reform. ABA ROLI promotes greater independence, accountability and transparency in judicial systems, assists in drafting and enacting codes of judicial ethics, promotes judicial education and training, and enhances court administration and efficiency.
• Legal education reform and civic education. This work promotes legal education reform by assisting law schools in introducing new courses and practical training methods that better meet the needs of tomorrow’s legal professionals. A rule of law culture is promoted through civic education campaigns on citizens’ rights.
• Legal profession reform. Programs include assisting in the development and administration of bar examinations, developing codes of legal ethics, and strengthening bar associations to serve as advocates for, and protectors of, the rule of law. ABA ROLI also enhances continuing legal education programs to ensure adequate mastery of existing and newly enacted laws.
• Women’s rights. ABA ROLI focuses on assisting both government and non-governmental entities in addressing women’s rights issues such as domestic violence, sexual harassment in the workplace and widespread gender-based violence (including systematic rape in post-conflict situations).

Countries

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

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, ABA ROLI partners with the Supreme Court to offer trainings on the recently established small claims courts. In Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, we 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

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, which allow them to observe the accusatorial justice system in action. In Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, we work with the leading law schools and professional associations to enhance the availability of continuing legal education for young lawyers.

Research and assessments

ABA ROLI’s overseas work is supported by legal research and assessments. The program conducts in-depth 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 a wide range of assessment tools. To date, 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 more than 50 assessments in over 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 alike.

Mission and core principles

The ABA Rule of Law Initiative is a non-profit program grounded in the belief that rule of law promotion is the most effective long-term antidote to the most pressing problems facing the world today, including poverty, conflict, endemic corruption and disregard for human rights.

Core principles

1. Utilizing a highly consultative approach to the delivery of technical assistance that is responsive to the requests and priorities of our local partners.
2. Employing a comparative approach in the provision of technical legal assistance, with the U.S. legal system providing just one of several models upon which host country reformers can draw.
3. Providing technical assistance and advice that is neutral and apolitical.
4. Building local capacity by strengthening institutions in both the governmental and non-governmental sectors and by furthering the professional development of ABA ROLI’s host country staff, many of whom become the next generation of leaders in their countries.
5. Providing thought leadership in the field of rule of law promotion that draws on both extensive overseas field experience and on the resources and convening power of the ABA and its 400,000 members in the United States and abroad.

Board

• Robert J. Grey, Jr.
  Robert J. Grey, Jr.
  Robert James Grey, Jr., Past President of the American Bar Association is a partner with the Richmond, Virginia-based law firm, Hunton & Williams...
  
  , Chair
• Hon. Robert H. Alsdorf
• Nancy J. Anderson
• Martha W. Barnett
• John A. Bohn
• Hon. Judith C. Chirlin
• Ashraf Ghani
  Ashraf Ghani
  Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is a prominent politician in Afghanistan and the former chancellor of Kabul University. He is also the chairman of the Institute for State Effectiveness, an organization set up in 2005 to promote the ability of states to serve their citizens. Before returning to...
  
  
• Michael S. Greco
  Michael S. Greco
  Michael Spencer Greco is a former President of the American Bar Association . He is currently a partner in the Boston office of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP, and a former partner at the now-defunct Hill and Barlow.-ABA Presidency:As President of the American Bar Association,...
  
  
• Glenn P. Hendrix
• Hon. Robert H. Henry
• R. William Ide, III
• Hon. M. Margaret McKeown
  M. Margaret McKeown
  Mary Margaret McKeown, usually styled as M. Margaret McKeown is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and is based in San Diego, California. McKeown, a native of Casper, Wyoming, has served on the Ninth Circuit since her confirmation in 1998...
  
  
• Homer E. Moyer, Jr.
• Llewelyn G. Pritchard
• Hon. Barbara J. Rothstein
• Aaron Schildhaus
• Steven T. Walther
  Steven T. Walther
  Steven T. Walther is Chairman of the United States Federal Election Commission, as of January 1, 2009.He was first sworn in as a Commissioner on January 10, 2006, as a recess appointee. Although his name was placed before the Senate for confirmation in June, 2007, his recess term expired on...
  
  

Special advisors

• Hon. Stephen G. Breyer
• Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...
  
  
• Hon. Anthony M. Kennedy
• Hon. Sandra Day O’Connor
• Hon. Robert Graham
  Robert Graham
  Robert Graham may refer to:*Sir Robert Graham , one of the assassins of James I of Scotland*Robert Graham of Gartmore , Scottish politician and poet...
  
  

Rule of Law Award

Each year, the ABA Rule of Law Award recognizes rule of law champion from around the world. Award recipients include:

• Hon. Arthur Chaskalson
  Arthur Chaskalson
  Arthur Chaskalson, is a former President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Chief Justice of South Africa...
  
  , Retired South African Supreme Court Chief Justice
• Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
  Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
  Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is a not for profit human rights organization whose core objective is to foster a culture of human rights in Zimbabwe as well as encourage the growth and strengthening of human rights at all levels of Zimbabwean society through observance of the rule of...
  
  
• Those lawyers and judges in Pakistan who demonstrated courage in upholding the rule of law in their country
• Hon. Stephen Breyer
  Stephen Breyer
  Stephen Gerald Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court....
  
  , U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• Hon. Anthony Kennedy
  Anthony Kennedy
  Anthony McLeod Kennedy is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, having been appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, Kennedy has often been the swing vote on many of the Court's politically charged 5–4 decisions...
  
  , U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• Hon. Hilario Davide, Retired Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice
• His Excellency Mikheil Saakashvili
  Mikheil Saakashvili
  Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
  
  , President of Georgia
• His Excellency Vaclav Havel
  Václav Havel
  Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
  
  , President of The Czech Republic