Resources & Tools

Liberian focus group on justice. (Photo: U.S. Institute of Peace)
November 2009 | Peaceworks by Deborah H. Isser, Stephen C. Lubkemann, Saah N’Tow, with Adeo Addison, Johnny Ndebe, George Saye, Tim Luccaro

This report presents the research findings and analysis of ten months of field study as part of the United States Institute of Peace and George Washington University project titled "From Current Practices of Justice to Rule of Law: Policy Options for Liberia's First Post-Conflict Decade." The analysis we present, based on three types of research methods (focus groups, individual interviews with parties to specific disputes, and interviews with chiefs, zoes [traditional leaders], and other justice practitioners) employed primarily in three counties (Grand Gedeh, Lofa, Nimba, and less extensively in parts of Monrovia), is intended to provide the Liberian government and other stakeholders in the country with more robust evidence than has hitherto been available on how both formal and customary justice systems are perceived and utilized by Liberians.

Dari Cover
September 2009 | Book by Colette Rausch, editor

This path-breaking volume presents broad guidelines and specific prescriptions for combating serious crime in societies emerging from conflict.

Countries: Afghanistan | Issue Areas: Civil Society, Rule of Law
September 2009 | Book by Colette Rausch, editor

This path-breaking volume presents broad guidelines and specific prescriptions for combating serious crime in societies emerging from conflict.

Countries: Nepal | Issue Areas: Civil Society, Rule of Law
(Photo: United Nations)
August 2009 | Peace Briefing by Hans Joerg Albrecht, Louis Aucoin and Vivienne O’Connor

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.

Countries: Haiti | Issue Areas: Governance, Rule of Law
Afghanistan police. (Photo: NY Times)
August 2009 | Special Report by Robert M. Perito

In seven years, the Afghan National Police forces have grown to 68,000 personnel, with a target end strength of 86,000. The ANP includes the uniformed police force, which is responsible for general police duties, and specialized police forces, which deal with public order, counternarcotics, terrorism, and border control.

August 2009 | Special Report by Alan Schwartz

More political violence will be hard to avoid in Sudan, barring a quick change in current trends, according to a new USIP report. Much of the outcome hinges on the handling of issues that involve the 2011 referendum on whether the South secedes from Sudan.

Iraqi police officers during training (Credit: DoD Photo/U.S. Army/Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.)
August 2009 | Peace Briefing by Robert Perito and Madeline Kristoff

As part of a push to bolster security in Iraq, the U.S. government declared 2006 the “Year of the Police” and focused on building the institutional capacity of the Ministry of the Interior, which supervises and trains Iraq’s police force.  However, even by 2007, numerous reports described Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior as crippled by corruption and sectarianism, and furthermore represented a major obstacle to developing an effective police force in the country.

July 2009

Truth Commission: Panama Truth Commission (Comisión de la Verdad de Panamá)
Duration: 2001 - 2002
Charter: Executive Decree No. 2, January 18, 2001
Commissioners: 7
Report: Public report

Countries: Panama | Issue Areas: Rule of Law, Transitional Justice
July 2009

Commission of Inquiry: The Special Prosecution Process by the Office of the Special Prosecutor
Duration: 1993 – 2007(?)
Charter: Proclamation No. 22/1992
Commissioners: more than 400 staff at peak
Report: [Public report on first year of activities]

Countries: Ethiopia | Issue Areas: Rule of Law, Transitional Justice
July 2009

Truth Commission: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Duration:  2009 – 2010 (expected)
Charter: Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act 2008 (No. 5 of 2008)
Commissioners: 5
Report: Not yet issued