Office of Democracy & Governance: Rule of Law
 In recent years, substantial achievement in legal reform has marked political transitions in Eastern Europe and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and parts of Africa and the Middle East.
The formerly communist countries, in particular, have passed new civil and commercial codes and a wide range of commercial legislation. The region has witnessed increased independence and greater professionalism of the judiciary. In Latin America, criminal codes have been revised to make the system more effective. In both regions, there is now greater official recognition of basic human rights and greater liberalization of civil and political rights such as freedoms of speech, press, and association.
There have also been modest human rights improvements in parts of the Middle East. In Africa, there is great need for stronger rule of law systems, but many African countries still lack sufficient political will for legal reform or judicial independence. This situation, sadly, is true in many countries around the world.
In comparing rule of law programs across regions, it becomes clear that reform objectives have converged over time: Latin American projects that began with criminal justice have expanded into commercial and administrative law while those in the European countries have moved from commercial into criminal areas.
Challenges to Legal Systems
Having good laws on the books does not always translate into law enforcement. Ethnic conflicts, breaches of public security, political crises, and religious wars still provide the context for flagrant rights abuses. Conflict or post-conflict situations that threaten public security underscore the fragility of government respect for human rights.
The Agency supports these CSOs whose advocacy efforts give voice to citizens and expand their influence on the political process. Strengthening civil society is increasingly seen as a way to counterbalance the exercise of excessive authority by governments and economic and political elites, and as a way to encourage more open dialogue about public policy matters too often decided behind closed doors. A vibrant civil society can even provide recourse to justice through the work of human rights groups, especially in post-conflict situations.
Within this environment, the DG Office addresses rule of law problems throughout the world by working to make USAID programming more effective in this field. Agency experience over the last decade with administration of justice programs in Latin America provides many of the valuable lessons from which the DG Office draws its guidance.
Political will is now widely recognized as an essential prerequisite for judicial reform. Assistance, however, can have an impact if various constituencies for reform—judges themselves or bar associations or other civic groups—are empowered. Another key lesson concerns reforming the criminal justice system. Police, prosecutors, judges, and defenders each play a unique part and reform must involve them all. The system itself must be treated as an organic whole. To train the police without training prosecutors and judges, for example, renders a lopsided system which stymies smooth and efficient functioning.
Lessons Learned
Code reform, widely hailed as a solution, is now seen as only one part of a more integrated approach involving training, implementation strategies, and civic education. Even if a justice system can be made more efficient, it can remain closed to the population; so the DG Office has recommended strategies involving a greater role for public defenders.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing areas currently under study is the relationship between economic development and the rule of law. Experience proves that an independent and efficient judicial system not only facilitates commerce but helps foster a favorable investment climate. The challenge now, highlighted by current crises in Russia and Asia, will be analyzing the data and designing rule of law programs that encourage and ensure economic growth. The DG Office is developing a methodology for assessing opportunities and designing programs to strengthen the rule of law. This new tool will look at the economic environment as well as political will, the legal framework, institutions, traditions, and key players.
The DG Office’s efforts to strengthen legal systems, in conjunction with the activities of USAID missions, fall under three interconnected priority areas, each of which integrates human rights concerns: supporting legal reform, improving the administration of justice, and increasing citizens’ access to justice.
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