The Foreign Service Journal, March 2005

As they well know, the rule of law is a prerequisite for political stabili- ty, economic development and pub- lic confidence in public institutions. In Iraq, the most important compo- nent in establishing the rule of law is reforming Iraq’s judicial system so that it is fair and transparent. Given Iraq’s troubled history, this will not be a simple or easy task, unfortu- nately. By the time the Coalition Pro- visional Authority assumed tempo- rary control of Iraq in 2003, the country had suffered under 35 years of increasingly corrupt and dictatorial rule by the Arab Socialist Revolutionary Party (Ba’ath Party), including 24 years under Saddam Hussein. The prison system in Iraq had effectively been destroyed and a criminal population of some 38,000 inmates had been released onto the streets following the U.S.-led invasion. Months after Hussein’s regime was ousted in May 2003, most of the country’s courts were not functioning, and most court facilities were destroyed or damaged. The judiciary included corrupt individuals, human rights vio- lators and technically incompetent Ba’ath Party func- tionaries. Nearly two years later, according to the Iraqi Interim Government, the Iraqi judiciary is now independent and the justice system is operational. The nation’s courts are open, issuing judgments in civil cases and imposing pun- ishment in criminal cases. Those convicted are serving their sentences. The Judicial Review Committee has reviewed all 860 judges and prosecutors in Iraq, remov- ing 169 from the Iraqi judiciary for senior Ba’ath Party affiliation and corruption. The committee has also rein- stated 72 judges who were wrongly removed by the for- mer regime. New rights, which did not exist under Saddam Hussein, and are similar to those American citizens enjoy, are now available to all defen- dants in Iraqi criminal courts. These include the right to a fair, expeditious and open trial; the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, regardless of whether the proceeding is civil or criminal; the right of all accused per- sons to legal counsel; and the right to remain silent. The defendant must be notified of these rights at the time of arrest. Furthermore, tor- ture has been abolished as a means to extract evidence. To ensure that Iraqi defendants are able to exercise those rights effectively, however, it is essential to train judges to administer their courts fairly and transparent- ly. And that is where the Central European and Eurasian Law Institute came in. The Training Begins The CEELI Institute, or CEELI, as it is generally known, is a graduate-level legal and judicial education center based in the Czech Republic. A public benefit corporation, CEELI’s principal mission since it was established in Prague in 1999 by the American Bar Association has been to assist post-communist govern- ments throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It does so by providing intensive practical and skills-based training to help these countries reform and strengthen their judicial systems. The CEELI Institute has its roots in the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, an ABA project begun in 1990 to bring law reform to some 30 countries in the region. CEELI receives support from the American Bar Association, USAID and a variety of other public and private sources. (For more details, please visit the institute’s Web site, www.abanet.org/ ceeli/special_projects/ceeli_inst/about.html.) This past summer, I served as the institute’s interim director for six weeks here in Prague. It was a unique experience in every sense of the word, but the opportu- nity to help Iraq stands out as one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve carried out. Based on our track record, CEELI was selected to train a total of 200 Iraqi judges between now and 2006, drawing on approximately $600,000 in support from the Barbara Dillon Hillas, a lawyer and principal with international consultants Dillon Hillas & Dillon (www.dillonhillasdillon.com), c urrently resides in Prague, where her husband, Kenneth, is DCM. A spe- cialist in international trade and development, her experience spans the European Union, South Africa, the former Soviet Union, Latin America and Japan. F O C U S M A R C H 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 39 In Iraq, the most important component in establishing the rule of law is reforming the country’s judicial system.