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Rule of Law Training Project

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Meet the Rule of Law Training Project Advisory Group (PDF/76.5KB). The group consists of leading rule of law practitioners and academics and provides  guidance and support in the design, development and delivery of the USIP rule of law training courses.

Program Specialists

Vivienne O'Connor
Senior Rule of Law Adviser, Rule of Law Center of Innovation

Time and experience has shown that establishing rule of law in conflict-affected states is a challenging and complex task. It involves a wide range of individuals, organizations and donors; international and national, governmental and non-governmental, military and civilian.

To work effectively, practitioners require a myriad of legal and non-legal skills. In other fields, such professionals would develop these skills through specialized education and training programs; however, within the rule of law field available training has been very limited, and practitioners generally receive no formal training.

According to a recent report by the World Bank, "there are no training courses...to prepare a practitioner to reconstruct a justice system after conflict. The expertise that exists is largely in the heads of a few practitioners who developed it through trial and error over the last few decades, and the quality of expertise varies substantially."1 Less-than-optimal practice in the field is often symptomatic of this absence of training.

There is, therefore, a growing awareness within the rule of law community of the need to professionalize the field and to develop training resources for practitioners.

In October 2007, building upon its many years of experience in zones of conflict, the Rule of Law program, as part of USIP’s broader Education and Training Center initiative, launched the Rule of Law Training Project with the aim of professionalizing field by establishing a series of training courses tailored to the needs of rule of law practitioners. The courses are open to rule of law professionals from legal, development, military, government, NGO, international organization, private sector or academic backgrounds; those who are new to this field of practice or more seasoned practitioners.

The Rule of Law Program at USIP has developed courses that will provide critical training to practitioners:

Rule of Law Practitioners Course

After a year-long assessment and design phase involving hundreds of experts, the inaugural USIP ‘Rule of Law Practitioners Course’ was piloted over the course of 5 days from January 12-16 2009. In attendance were representatives from the US government (civilian and military), the United Nations, the NGO community and foreign bilateral donors.

Drawing upon on-the-ground experiences, lessons learned and best practice examples from conflict-affected states, such as Iraq, Liberia, Timor Leste, Kosovo, Haiti, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Kenya, Uganda and Bangladesh, the course offers a comprehensive introduction to the rule of law from theory to practical application. It covers general rule of law skills such as how to conduct rule of law assessments; how to design and implement rule of law projects and how to monitor and evaluate them. The course also looks at specific areas of the rule of law such as the theory of rule of law; comparative legal systems (including Islamic legal systems and civil law systems); police reform; prison reform; judicial reform; how to work with non-state justice systems and civil society to promote the rule of law; transitional justice; constitution-making; cultural awareness; and rule of law soft skills. This course goes beyond the traditional parameters of rule of law training, which is often solely focused on law and legal solutions, and draws upon a multitude of complementary fields of practice to offer examples of creative approaches to promoting the rule of law.

The Rule of Law Practitioners Course is delivered through a variety of methodologies that seek to maximize the delegates’ learning experience. With an emphasis on ‘problem-based learning’ or ‘learning by doing’, presentations are supplemented by simulation exercises, group work/discussion, role-playing and DVD/multi-media presentations. The training course also seeks to cultivate an environment in which delegates can learn from each other through the sharing of knowledge, experiences and solutions.

The Rule of Law Practitioners Course will be delivered several times a year by USIP. For details of future dates, see the course schedule or contact voconnor@usip.org.

Rule of Law and Access to Justice Practitioners Course (United Kingdom)

In addition to the design and development of a USIP course based in Washington, D.C., the Rule of Law Program has been working in cooperation with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to develop a three-day, UK-based ‘Rule of Law and Access to Justice Practitioners Course’. The course is tailored to the needs of the UK Justice Assistance Network, a cooperative of UK government departments that work on justice assistance in developing and conflict-affected countries. The course is similar in approach, delivery methodology and content to the USIP Practitioners Course, although it draws heavily on UK policy and practice. Since February 2007, USIP and DFID have co-delivered five such courses, attended by UK government representatives and representatives from foreign governments and the United Nations.

Click here for photos of the DFID courses held in England and the US.

Future Courses

The Rule of Law Program is currently working to develop additional ‘sub-specialty’ rule of law training courses that will focus in-depth on certain areas of rule of law promotion.

Contact

For more information about the Rule of Law Training Project, please contact Project Director Vivienne O’Connor at voconnor@usip.org or (202) 429-3898.