PrintVivienne O'Connor
Senior Program Officer, Rule of Law Center
Countries: Haiti
Vivienne O'Connor is a senior program officer who joined the Rule of Law Program in 2007. Her focus is on criminal justice reform and rule of law training. She co-directs the Model Codes for Post-Conflict Criminal Justice Project and directs the Rule of Law Training Project. She also works on a project providing technical support and assistance to the criminal law reform process in Haiti. Before joining USIP, she worked at the Irish Centre for Human Rights as its Rule of Law Project Officer. In 2005, she has taught international human rights law at the National University of Ireland. She has also taught a course on criminal law and development at the University of Melbourne Law School, where she was a senior fellow from 2006-2007. Vivienne has worked as a consultant for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the UN Officer on Drugs and Crime.
Vivienne holds a bachelor’s of civil law from the University College Dublin and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in international human rights law from the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Publications:
- Model Codes for Post-Conflict Criminal Justice, (co-editor) (USIP Press, 2007-2008).
- Combating Serious Crimes in Postconflict Environments: A Manual for Policy-Makers and Practitioners (coauthor) (USIP Press, 2006).
- "The International Law of Peace Operations Meets Domestic Criminal Law: The Potential Use of Model Codes in Addressing Human Security Issues in Post-Conflict States" in Fragmentation: Diversification and Expansion of International Law: Canadian Council on International Law 34th Annual Conference 2005, (Canadian Council on International Law 2006).
Publications & Tools
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This brief was written by the director of USIP’s Rule of Law Center of Innovation and three of the center’s senior advisers: Colette Rausch, Jason Gluck, Vivienne O’Connor and Scott Worden. The authors’ analysis is informed by their knowledge of the Middle East and North Africa and their firsthand experiences in promoting the rule of law in transitional states such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo and Nepal. Countries: Africa, Asia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis and Prevention, Political Reform, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities
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Vivienne O'Connor, USIP senior rule of law adviser, describes youth issues in Haiti and the outlook for children one year after the earthquake. Countries: Haiti
| Issue Areas: Human Rights, Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities, Rule of Law, Youth and Peacebuilding
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The January 12th earthquake in Haiti shook the justice system. Prior to the earthquake, Haiti had been making steady progress towards improving access to justice. |
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USIP assesses the damage done by the devastating earthquake, and recommends strategies for Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction. |
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This path-breaking volume presents broad guidelines and specific prescriptions for combating serious crime in societies emerging from conflict. |
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This path-breaking volume presents broad guidelines and specific prescriptions for combating serious crime in societies emerging from conflict. |
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A new USIP report on Haiti's criminal laws examines the shortcomings of the impoverished country's criminal code – and finds promising opportunities to modernize and reform the laws. Despite Haiti's numerous challenges, the report concludes that new laws in Haiti will usher in a new era where the criminal justice system serves all people of Haiti, including the poor, vulnerable and marginalized, and upon which respect for the law and legitimacy of a stronger judicial system overall can be built. |
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Volume II of Model Codes for Post-Conflict Criminal Justice continues the path-breaking work of volume I, providing an indispensable resource for those striving to reestablish the rule of law in societies recently wracked by violent conflict. Issue Areas: Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities, Rule of Law
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Of unparalleled breadth, depth, and authority, the Model Codes for Post-Conflict Criminal Justice is a criminal law reform tool tailored to the needs of countries emerging from conflict. Its three volumes present four complete legal codes that national and international actors can use to create, overhaul, update, or plug gaps in the criminal laws in individual post-conflict states. |
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This path-breaking volume presents broad guidelines and specific prescriptions for combating serious crime in societies emerging from conflict.
Countries: Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Sierra Leone
| Issue Areas: Rule of Law
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Events
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February 29, 2012
Under Saddam Hussein, a complex web of intelligence and security institutions protected the regime and repressed the Iraqi people. Underfunded and mismanaged, the Iraqi police were least among those institutions and unprepared to secure the streets when Coalition Forces arrived in 2003 and disbanded the rest of the security apparatus. Iraq’s police forces have made important strides, and some 400,000 Iraqi police have been trained and stationed across the country. However, with the U.S. drawdown in Iraq, the future of the Iraqi police and U.S. police assistance is uncertain. On February 29, the United States Institute of Peace and the Institute for the Study of War will co-host a panel of distinguished experts who will discuss the history of the Iraqi police and the U.S. police assistance program in Iraq. Countries: Iraq
| Issue Areas: Post-Conflict and Peacekeeping Activities, Security Sector Reform/Governance
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February 15, 2012
Street crime, drug trafficking, rape and gang violence jeopardize Haiti’s tenuous recovery. One major obstacle to recovery is Haiti’s challenged justice system. Courts are dysfunctional, prisons overcapacity and corruption endemic. Haiti’s criminal codes date back to the 1860s and do not meet international human rights standards. In 2008, USIP was invited by the Haitian government to support the drafting of a new set of criminal codes. The revised codes are expected to go before the Haitian Parliament in 2012. On February 15, USIP will host a public event to discuss justice in Haiti and the path forward for judicial reform. |
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February 12, 2010
The Haitian government is leading efforts to address serious rule of law challenges brought about by the recent earthquake, including the destruction of key justice infrastructure and the loss of life within the justice system. What can be done now to provide the Haitian people with rule of law? How should the pre-existing rule of law strategy be altered to reflect the reality on the ground and to ensure long-term rule of law? |
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December 9, 2008
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April 22, 2008
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April 28, 2008
To aid in the development and reform of Afghan criminal law, USIP, in partnership with the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, organized a workshop on law reform in Afghanistan held at ISISC's headquarters in Siracusa, Italy from April 22 - 28, 2008. |