International Journal for the

Rule of Law,
Courtroom Procedures,
Judicial Linguistics &
Legal English

Volume 2 Issue 1
April 2018
The International Journal for the Rule of Law, Courtroom Procedures,
Judicial Linguistics & Legal English

Volume 2 Issue 1
April 2018

Chief Editors
Dr. Phil Cameron, SJD, L.L.M. J.D.
Beijing International Studies University
China

Dr. Paul Robertson

Rule of Law Association

2
 Contents

Foreword 5-6

Gregg B. Brelsford
21st Century Global Rule of Law Under Siege: A Proposed 7-29
Global Virtual Grassroots Intervention

Prof. Ivan Sammut

The effect of Multilingualism in the EU on European Legal 30-52
Translation

Wm. Dennis Huber

The Supreme Court’s Subversion of the Constitutional Process 53-105
and the Creation of Persons ex nihilo
(Walking on Thin Ice of Translation of Terminology in Legal
Settings)

Yehudit Dror
The Structure of Legal Passages in the Qur’ān 106-140

Tine Destrooper (Ph.D.)

The Performance of Justice? 141-160
Scenic anthropology and the role of victims in courtrooms

Dr. Geeta Oberoi Professor 161-188

Concerns on nature and duration of inductions trainings
offered to magistrates in India

Purity M. Nthiga, Gatitu E. Kiguru 189-223

The (In)comprehensibility of the language of Motor Insurance
Policies: Examples from Kenya

Sophia Maye T. Andrade, Rachelle B. Lintao

Imposing Control Through Yes/No Questions in a Philippine 224-263
Drug Trial

4
 21st Century Global Rule of Law Under Siege: A Proposed Global Virtual
Grassroots Intervention
Gregg B. Brelsford1

“In all societies, lawyers are essential to realizing rights enshrined in law . . .”2

“[L]awyers play a crucial role in shaping society and its institutions.”3

Bio-Profile:
Gregg B. Brelsford is a Vice-Chair for Rule of Law for the ABA Section of International
Law Middle East Committee for 2017-2018, President of Rule of Law Global Associates, and
a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (the views stated here are solely those of the
author). He served in Cairo as the Legal Advisor to the Microsoft Egypt Corporate Social
Responsibility Program (2011-21012) and to the ABA Rule of Law Initiative office in Egypt
(ROLI) from 2012-2016. gbrelsford@ruleoflawglobalassociates.com

Abstract:-
The 21st century Rule of Law is under siege and global governmental accountability is
shrinking in developing countries. An innovative, cost-effective, positive-sum, scalable,

1
Gregg B. Brelsford is a Vice-Chair for Rule of Law for the ABA Section of International Law Middle
East Committee for 2017-2018, President of Rule of Law Global Associates, and a Fellow of the American Bar
Foundation (the views stated here are solely those of the author). He served in Cairo as the Legal Advisor to the
Microsoft Egypt Corporate Social Responsibility Program (2011-21012) and to the ABA Rule of Law Initiative
office in Egypt (ROLI) from 2012-2016. At ROLI, Mr. Brelsford ran the flagship Innovation in Legal Training
and Education in the Egyptian Legal Professions program where, among other things, he conducted Training of
Trainers workshops with Egyptian judges, prosecutors, lawyer and law professors. Previously, Mr. Brelsford
served as Deputy General Counsel at a NASDAQ-traded global telecommunications software company where
he negotiated complex technology-transfer licenses on-the-ground worldwide. He has JD and MPA degrees and
was also a partner in the law firm Burke, Bauermeister and Brelsford, PLLC. Mr. Brelsford can be reached at
gbrelsford@ruleoflawglobalassociates.com.
2
William Hubbard, “ABA President Statement on Lawyers in China,” ABA Archives, dated August 3,
2015, https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2015/08/aba_president_willia.html (last
visited November 24, 2017).
3
J. Montoya, The Current State of Legal Education and Reform in Latin America: A Critical Appraisal,
59 J. Legal Education, 545 (2010), available at jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1280&context=home
(last visited November 25, 2017).

7
virtual strategy - to fortify Rule Of Law through global capacity building in developing
countries at the grassroots level of the legal profession is proposed. In an era of embattled
Rule Of Law and declining foreign aid, Global Bar Associations virtual interaction with
grassroots Legal Professionals on a continual basis is priceless.

The rule of law bakes no bread, it is unable to distribute . . . [food or clothing] . . . (it has
none), and it cannot [easily] protect itself against external assault, but it remains the most
civilized and least burdensome conception of a state yet to be devised.4

I. Introduction

21st-century Rule of Law (“ROL”) is under siege and governmental accountability is

shrinking in developing countries across the globe. These worldwide battles are so widespread and
strikingly similar that it is as if terrorists and authoritarian and dictatorial regimes are widely sharing
a ROL-attack “best-practices” manual.5 Indeed, alarm has risen at the highest levels of numerous
national and international bar associations (collectively “Global Bar Associations” or “GBAs”).
These include American Bar Association (“ABA”),6 The Law Society of England and Wales (“The
Law Society”) 7
the European Bars Federation (“FBE”),8 LAWASIA9 the International Bar
Association (“IBA”), 10 the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA”),11and others.

4
Michael Oakeshott, in M. Oakeshott, The Rule of Law in What Is History? and Other Essays, 119 at
164 (Barnes and Noble1983), quoted in Rachel Kleinfeld Belton, “Competing Definitions of the Rule of Law:
Implications for Practitioners,” Carnegie Papers, Rule of Law Series, Democracy and Rule of Law Project, No.
55, January 2005, available at https://carnegieendowment.org/files/CP55.Belton.FINAL.pdf (last visited January
8, 2018) [hereinafter Competing Definitions of the Rule of Law]. Substitute racketed language inserted.
5
“[M]odern authoritarianism defends and propagates itself as regimes from different regions and with
diverse socioeconomic foundations copy and borrow techniques of political control. . . . There is also growing
replication of what might be called authoritarian best practices.” Arch Puddington, Breaking Down
Democracy: Goals, Strategies, and Methods of Modern Authoritarians, Freedom House, 2017, emphasis added,
available at https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-reports/breaking-down-democracy-goals-strategies-and-
methods-modern-authoritarians (last visited November 26, 2017).
6
The American Bar Association is one of the world’s largest voluntary professional organizations,
with over 400,000 members and more than 3,500 entities. About the ABA,
https://www.americanbar.org/about_the_aba.html (last visited January 7, 2018).
7
The Law Society has a diverse membership of over 166,000 solicitors across England and Wales. Its
aims including upholding the independence of the legal profession, the rule of law, and human rights throughout
the world. Law Society President Robert Burns letter to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President, Republic
of Turkey, dated March 13, 2017, available at http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/human-
rights/interventions/2017/joint-intervention-letter-on-turkey/5060999.article (last visited December 29, 2017.
8
The European Bars Federation/Fédération des Barreaux d’Europe was founded in Barcelona on 23rd
May 1992, as a successor to the Conférence des Grands Barreaux d’Europe. The FBE has 250-member bars,
representing approximately 800,000 lawyers. Introduction, http://www.fbe.org/the-federation/presentation/ (last
visited December 29, 2017).

8
In some developed countries, funding to reverse this unsettling siege is shrinking too. Foreign
aid is one of the most important tools for strengthening ROL, civil society, and democracy in
the developing world. As of November 2017, the US government has proposed reducing aid
to developing countries, including ROL development 31% in fiscal year 2018.12 By contrast,
foreign aid by the United Kingdom is estimated to grow in 2018.13

What can be done? Clearly, fortifying global ROL is now vitally important. GBAs and other
ROL-development programs are doing heroic work. However, imagine doing more.
The legal profession is the heart of ROL. And building ROL is at the heart of the mission of
all Global Bar Associations. With over one million members14 and more than twenty-five
years of global ROL-development experience,15 GBAs are uniquely positioned to strengthen

9
LAWASIA is a regional association of lawyers, judges, jurists and legal organizations, which advocates
for the interests and concerns of the Asia Pacific legal profession. About Law Asia,
http://www.lawasia.asn.au/about_us.html (last visited December 30, 2017).
10
The International Bar Association, established in 1947, is the world's leading organization of
international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA influences the development of
international law reform and shapes the future of the legal profession throughout the world. It has a membership
of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and more than 190 bar associations and law societies spanning over 160
countries. It has considerable expertise in providing assistance to the global legal community. About the IBA,
https://www.ibanet.org/About_the_IBA/About_the_IBA.aspx (last visited December 29, 2017).
11
The Inter-Pacific Bar Association is an international association of business and commercial lawyers
who live in, or otherwise have a strong interest in, the Asia-Pacific Region. Its 1,500 members are drawn from
over 65 jurisdictions worldwide. https://ipba.org/about-us/about-ipba/history/165/160/ (last visited December
30, 2017).
12
Gardiner Harris, State Department to Offer Buyouts in Effort to Cut Staff, N.Y. Times.com, November
10, 2017, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/us/politics/state-department-buyouts.html?_r=0 (last
visited November 25, 2017).
13
UK Spending on Foreign Aid, February 28, 2017, available at https://fullfact.org/economy/uk-
spending-foreign-aid/ (last visited January 6, 2018). Although the foreign aid of the UK and other countries may
be stable, or grow lightly, because the US is responsible for the world’s highest volume of foreign aid, a drop in
US foreign aid may generate a net drop in developed-country global foreign aid.
14
This estimate is conservative. Based on the links included herein, the attorney members of the GBAs
identified in this article total 1,447,500 (ABA-400,000; The Law Society-166,000; FBE-800,000; IBA-80,000;
IPBA-1,500; ASIALAW does not publish membership numbers on the Internet). The total number of members
in all developed country GBAs worldwide is certainly much larger as this list does not include many other
national bar associations, such as Germany and Italy and others.
15
United Nations and the Rule of Law, World Bank, https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/un-and-the-rule-of-
law/world-bank/ (last visited January 8, 2018) (Over the past 25 years the World Bank has supported a range of
activities in justice reform and rule of law through lending and analytical and advisory work.); ROLI, Our
Origins and Principles, https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/rule_of_law/about/origin_principles.html ( last
visited January 9, 2018) (For more than 25 years, and through work in more than 100 countries, ROLI and its
partners have sought to strengthen legal institutions, to support legal professionals, to foster respect for human
rights and to advance public understanding of the law and of citizen rights.)

9
global ROL by working closely with grassroots judges, prosecutors, lawyers and law
professors in developing countries16 (collectively “Legal Professionals” or “LPs”).17
The strategy proposed here is to create a new 21st-century paradigm – an innovative, cost-
effective, positive-sum, scalable, virtual strategy - to fortify ROL through global capacity
building in developing countries at the grassroots level of the legal profession. GBAs should
extend complimentary memberships, and committee memberships (collectively
“memberships”), to LPs who participate in GBA programs worldwide but cannot afford GBA
dues.18 Because most GBA member activity is now electronic, building on GBA’s existing

16
The term “developing country” refers here to economic development, not the sophistication of the legal
system leaders and professionals. Indeed, every day, exceptional LPs fight courageously for ROL in very
challenging circumstances. Even so, in many places, governments and terrorists undermine fundamental
freedoms, harass and close civil society and non-governmental organizations and attack lawyers and
courthouses. For example, in one 28-day period in 2016, terrorist attacks in Pakistan killed at least 83 people,
including 64 lawyers, and injured 180. Bilal Anwar Kasi, the president of Balochistan Bar Association, was
attacked and killed on August 8, 2016, 65 killed, over 150 injured in blast at hospital in Pakistan's Quetta,
Indiatimes.com, August 8, 2017, available at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/55-killed-over-
100-injured-in-blast-at-hospital-in-Pakistans-Quetta/articleshow/53596823.cms (last visited November 24,
2017); Quetta Attack Sparks Nationwide Lawyers’ Strike in Pakistan, NBC News.com, August 9, 2016 (70
dead, including 60 lawyers, 130 injured) available at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/quetta-attack-
sparks-nationwide-lawyers-strike-pakistan-n626201 (last visited November 23, 2017); Pakistan blast at court
leaves several dead in Mardan, BBC.com, September 2, 2016 (12 dead, including 3 lawyers, 50 injured),
available at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37253739 (last visited November 24, 2017).
Nor does this article suggest that the flow of knowledge is solely one-way from developed countries to
developing countries or that developed countries have nothing to learn from developing countries. Rather, the
thrust of this article is that developed countries have a rich legal-profession “infrastructure,” and “critical mass”
of skills-training and knowledge generation and dissemination, that is not yet generally present in developing
countries, that developing countries can benefit from it, and that developed countries ought to share it.
17
GBA ROL-development and training work would complement similar work performed by, among
others, (i) the UN, see UN and the Rule of Law, available at https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/un-and-the-rule-of-
law/ (last visited January 8, 2018), (ii) the World Bank, see Law and Justice Institutions, available at
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTLAWJUSTINST/0,,contentMDK:23138640~me
nuPK:1974078~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:1974062,00.html (last visited January 28, 2018), (iii)
the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, OECD, see Access to Justice, available at
http://www.oecd.org/gov/access-to-justice.htm (last visited January 8, 2018), (iv) USAID, Democracy, Human
Rights and Governance, available at https://www.usaid.gov/democracy (last visited January 8, 2018), (v) the
United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), see Strengthening Rule of Law in
Pakistan, available at https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-204619 (last visited January 8, 2018), (vi)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, see Promotion of the Rule of law in
Central Asia, available at https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/14355.html (last visited January 8, 2018), (vii) the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, see Rule of Law, available at
http://www.osce.org/rule-of-law (last visited January 8, 2018), and (viii) the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation, SDC, see Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Resource Center (IHLRC) “Closing the
Compliance Gap, available at https://www.eda.admin.ch/deza/en/home/themes-sdc/gender-
equality.html/content/dezaprojects/SDC/en/2012/7F08414/phase3?oldPagePath=/content/deza/en/home/themen/
gleichstellung_vonfrauundmann.html (last visited January 8, 2018). The scope of these programs encompasses,
in part, “legislative, judicial, and police reforms, as well as support to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),
ombudspersons’ offices, and land and property administrations.” Agnès Hurwitz, Civil War and the Rule of
Law: Toward Security, Development, and Human Rights, in Civil War and the Rule of Law: Security,
Development, Human Rights, edited by Agnès Hurwitz with Reyko Huang (2014) at 1, available at
https://www.rienner.com/uploads/536160a0e1c45.pdf (last visited January 8, 2018).
18
The number of eligible LPs who actually use a complimentary membership will be filtered by (i)
capability in using the English, or other host GBA, languages (ii) access to a computer (iii) and willingness to
participate from distant time zones.

10
digital systems will be essentially cost-free. In this era of embattled ROL and declining
foreign aid, GBA virtual interaction with grassroots LPs on a continual basis is priceless.

19
Over the past decade, I have seen thousands of LP “light bulb moments” when ROL-
development participants encountered developed country legal thinking and interactive
training in legal skills, ROL issues, and professional values.20 This sparked immense
enthusiasm for further engagement. This virtual strategy could reach LPs at all levels and
practice areas, including those who are relatively isolated in their home legal systems, such as
women, religious and ethnic minorities, disabled persons and lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (“LGBT”) individuals. 21 It could also create a worldwide body of LPs attuned to
the value of the ROL who are embedded in developing country civil society. GBA benefits
may include enriched committee composition and expanded business referrals for GBA
lawyers.

This strategy is not a quick-fix. However, if given a chance, it could dramatically expand
GBA’s 21st-century ROL-building impact and global presence. Why not use this virtual
strategy to fortify global ROL by integrating grassroots LPs into the largest, most
sophisticated, exciting and dynamic professional legal associations and ROL-communities in
the world?

II. Defining ROL and Integrating the Proposed Virtual Strategy into the Existing
ROL-Development Framework

19
The personal observations in this article are based on the author’s 2006-2016 decade of ROL-
development work and law teaching in the Persian Gulf, the Baltic States, the Balkans, the US and the
turbulence and turmoil of the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa. For a partial description of the
author’s development work in Egypt, including evacuation for security purposes, see G. Brelsford, Revolution,
Turmoil and Mixed Stability in Egypt: ABA Rule of Law Development Programming and Institutionalization
2012-2016, 1 Middle East Review 6-7 (September 2016), available at Committee Publications
http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=IC850000 (last visited November 27, 2017).
20
Additionally, implicitly embedded in these items are the values of pluralism and democracy.
21
The ABA is deeply concerned about the relative isolation of disabled and LGBT lawyers in the US. See
ABA launches nationwide study to expand opportunities for disabled, LGBT+ lawyers, ABA News, May 10,
2017 (“Too often, the LGBT+ communities and/or those who have disabilities are not included in efforts to
expand career and professional diversity, especially in the legal profession.”), available at
https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2017/05/aba_launches_nationw.html (last
visited November 21, 2017).

11
 There is no broadly accepted definition of ROL.22 Here, ROL means a legal system
governed by a constitution and laws generated by representatives chosen through fair
elections, in which the government and its citizens are held accountable by enforcing
constitutional and other rights through an independent judiciary.23 This requires skilled
practitioners in courts, law schools and private and governmental law practice settings who
are explicitly committed to the ROL.

Similarly, no generally agreed upon strategy for ROL-development currently exists. But all
strategies have one universal objective: to enhance the legal skills and knowledge and ROL-
values of LPs and thereby strengthen global ROL. The ABA Rule of Law Initiative (“ROLI”)
provides training that is delivered on-the-ground in 50 countries. 24 Additional organizations
do so as well.25 Other strategies offer periodic training online, organize conferences and
advise on drafting constitutions and statutes, and involve collaborative work with foreign bar
associations and GBA leadership visits to and from legal system leaders in developing
countries. This proposed virtual strategy does not compete with them. It builds upon them by
adding a continuous, interactive, digital component.

III. The GBAs Mission to Strengthen Global ROL

The GBAs are world leaders, with others,26 in the solemn mission of building ROL
and a global community of lawyers. Goal IV of the ABA mission is to advance ROL

22
James R. Silkenat, The American Bar Association and the Rule of Law, 67 SMU L. R. 746 (2014),
available at http://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol67/iss4/7/ (last visited May 1, 2017). See also Sndaresh Memon,
Chief Justice of Singapore, The Rule of Law: The Path to Exceptionalism, Vo. 28, No. 2, September 2016
Singapore Academy LJ 413-427, 414 (rule of law is a seemingly elastic concept), available at
http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/speeches/speech_by_the_honourable_chief_justice_sundaresh_menon_at_the_
american_law_institute_93rd_annual_meeting_16_may_2016.html (last visited December 30, 2017). For a brief
survey of competing definitions of the rule of law see Competing Definitions of the Rule of Law supra note 4.
23
See generally Rule of Law, Justice Sector Reforms and Development Cooperation, SDC Concept
Paper, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, at 3 (2008), available at
https://www.eda.admin.ch/content/dam/deza/en/documents/publikationen/Diverses/170419-etatdedroit_EN.pdf
(last visited January 6, 2018) (“Although there is no internationally accepted definition of the rule of law, key
elements generally include: non-discrimination and equality before the law, the hierarchy of norms, and the
substantive coherence of the legal framework, the government is bound by law, the separation of powers, the
independence and impartiality of the judiciary, and respect for human rights.”)
24
ABA Rule of Law Initiative, https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/rule_of_law.html (last visited May
3, 2017).
25
See generally supra note 17.
26
Id.

12
“throughout the world.”27 The Law Society exists, in part, to “promote the rule of law.”28 The
Inter-Pacific Bar Association’s purpose is, in part, to “promote the rule of law.”29 Within the
ABA, the ABA Section for International Law (“SIL”),30 ROLI,31 and the ABA-UNDP
International Legal Resource Center (“ILRC”)32 also exist, in part, to strengthen global ROL.
In terms of all of these bar organizations, this virtual strategy is in their “sweet spot.”

IV. 21st Century Assault on ROL in Developing Countries

A sample of current data in three domains of the global ROL siege illustrates the
present trend of embattled ROL and diminishing governmental accountability in today’s
developing countries: (i) major national and international bar association statements calling
out rule of law violations (ii) falling global ROL rankings and (iii) shrinking fundamental
rights and judicial independence.

1. Major National and International Bar Association Statements33

Sadly, despite valiant efforts by GBAs, the siege against the ROL of appears to
be accelerating. Indeed, concern has risen to the highest levels of the GBAs.

A. ABA President Statements

27
ABA Mission and Goals, https://www.americanbar.org/about_the_aba/aba-mission-goals.html (last
visited November 12, 2017).
28
The Law Society is the independent professional body for solicitors, https://www.lawsociety.org.uk
(last visited January 2, 2018).
29
Purposes of the IPBA, https://ipba.org/about-us/about-ipba/purpose/165/161/ (last visited December
30, 2017).
30
SIL’s mission is “to promote professional relationships with lawyers similarly engaged in foreign
countries.” Section of International Law, Who We Are,
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/international_law/about_us.html (Who we are) (last visited November 12,
2017).
31
ROLI’s mission is “to promote justice, economic opportunity, and human dignity through the rule of
law.” About ABA ROLI, https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/rule_of_law/about.html (About Us) (last visited
November 12, 2017).
32
ILRC’s mission is to “promote the rule of law around the world.” About the ILRC,
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/international_law/initiatives_awards/international_legal_resource_center/a
bout.html (last visited November 12, 2017).
33
For the sake of brevity, the majority, but not all, of the statements are limited to 2017 and 2016. Each
of the bar organizations identified here has issued statements extending significantly further back for many
years.

13
 During the seventeen months ending November 2017, ABA presidents
issued fifteen statements calling out attacks on global ROL. This is greater than the number
of statements issued in the previous thirty months.

The ABA President’s recent statements addressed attacks on courthouses in Syria,34

Afghanistan35, and Pakistan,36 37 threats to the independence of the legal profession in
Malaysia,38 39
Pakistan (assassination of the President of the Baluchistan Bar Association), 40
Tanzania (non-fatal shooting of the president of the Tanganyika Law Society), 41 and Kenya
42
(murder of lawyer representing activist alleging police misconduct), threats to judicial
independence in Poland, 43
election constitutional crises in Venezuela,44 impunity and

34
Statement of ABA President Linda Klein, “Attack on Palace of Justice in Damascus, Syria,”
March 20, 2017, ABA News Archives, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2017/03/statement_of_abapre0.html (last visited November 21, 2017)
35
Statement of ABA President Linda Klein, “Recent Terrorist Attacks on Courts in Afghanistan and
Pakistan,” ABA News Archives, March 1, 2017, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-
news-archives/2017/03/statement_of_abapre.html (last visited November 11, 2017). In a statement issued on
February 8, 2017 in the aftermath of the attack on the Supreme Court in Kabul, the U.N. Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan noted a pattern of attacks against judicial authorities, including 74 documented attacks targeting
judges, prosecutors and judicial staff, resulting in 89 dead and 214 injured since 2015. See UN News Centre,
February 8, 2017, available at http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56132#.WbgK4aht4zM (last
visited November 21, 2107).
36
Statement of ABA President Linda Klein, “Recent Terrorist Attacks on Courts in Afghanistan and
Pakistan,” ABA News Archives, March 1, 2017, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-
news-archives/2017/03/statement_of_abapre.html (last visited November 11, 2017).
37
Statement of ABA President Linda Klein, “Terrorist attack on district court in Mardan, Pakistan,” ABA
News Archives, September 3, 2017, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2016/09/statement_of_abapre.html (last visited November 21, 2017).
38
Statement of ABA President Paulette Brown, “ABA concerned about Malaysia High Court decision to
uphold Sedition Act of 1948,” ABA News Archives,
April 14, 2016, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2016/04/aba_concerned_about.html (last visited November 21, 2017).
39
Letter from ABA President Linda Klein to YAB Dato’Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime
Minister of Malaysia, September 23, 2016, available at
https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/human_rights/malaysiarolletter_92316.authcheck
dam.pdf (last visited November 21, 2017).
40
Statement of ABA President Linda Klein, “ABA expresses concern over assassination of Bilal Kasi
and attacks on lawyers in Pakistan,” ABA News Archives, August 23, 2016, available at
https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2016/08/aba_expresses_concer.html (last visited
November 21, 2017).
41
Statement of ABA President Hilarie Bass, “The shooting of the president of the Tanganyika Law
Society,” ABA News Archives, September 8, 2017, available at
https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2017/09/statement_of_abapre0.html (last visited
November 21, 2017).
42
Statement of ABA President Paulette Brown, “ABA expresses concern over murder of Kenyan human
rights lawyer Willie Kimani,” ABA News Archives, July 8, 2016, available at
https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2016/07/aba_expresses_concer.html (last
visited November 21, 2017).
43
Statement of ABA President Linda A. Klein, ”Judicial Independence in Poland,” ABA News Archives,
July 20, 2017, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2017/07/statement_of_abapre0.html (last visited November 21, 2017).

14
endemic corruption in Guatemala,45 human rights in China,46 post-coup due process
safeguards in Turkey47 and atrocities in Myanmar.48

B. The Law Society of England and Wales Statements

The Law Society issued a number of statements in 2017 (and dozens

more in earlier years). These statements addressed judicial independence in Poland, 49 the
dismissal of judges and prosecutors in Turkey,50 detention of human rights defenders in Saudi
Arabia,51 disappearance of human rights defender Samar Abbas in Pakistan,52 detention of
lawyers and military tribunal ruling on civilians in Cameroon,53 harassment against the
human rights lawyer Azza Soliman in Egypt,54 murder of a transgender human rights

44
Statement of ABA President Linda Klein, “Political unrest in Venezuela,” ABA News Archives,
August 4, 2017, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2017/08/statement_of_abapre.html (last visited November 21, 2017).
45
Statement of ABA President Hilarie Bass, “UN Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala,” ABA
News Archives, August 24, 2017, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2017/08/statement_of_hilarie.html (last visited November 21, 2017).
46
Statement of ABA President Paulette Brown, “Call for Chinese government to protect human rights,”
ABA, News Archives, April 12, 2016, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2016/04/statement_of_abapre1.html (last visited November 21, 2017).
47
Statement of ABA President Paulette Brown, “Recent incidents in Turkey,” ABA News Archives, July
19, 2016, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2016/07/statement_of_paulett.html (last visited November 21, 2017).
48
Statement of ABA President Hilarie Bass, “Call for action to stop atrocities in Myanmar,” ABA News
Archives, November 7, 2017, available at https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2017/11/statement_of_abapre1.html (last visited November 12, 2017).
49
Statement of The Law Society President Joe Egan, “Independent judiciary underpins rule of in Poland,”
The Law Society website, July 19, 2017, available at https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/press-
releases/independent-judiciary-underpins-rule-of-law-in-poland/ (last visited December 27, 2017).
50
Letter of Law Society President Robert Bourns to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President. Republic of
Turkey, “Dismissal of 227 Judges and Prosecutors / Detention of Judge Aydin Sefa Akay,” March 13, 2017,
available at http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/download?ac=24273 (last visited January 9, 2018).
51
Letter of Law Society President Robert Bourns to His Excellency King Salman bin Abduaziz Al Saud,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, “Detention of the human rights defenders Esham Kossak and Ahmed Al Musheikhis
in Saudi Arabia.” dated March 7, 2017, available at http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/human-
rights/interventions/2017/detention-of-the-human-rights-defenders-esham-kossak-and-ahmed-al-musheikhis-in-
saudi-arabia/5060917.article (last visited December 29, 2017).
52
Letter of Law Society President Robert Bourns to His Excellency Mr. Mamnoon Hussian, President,
Islamic Republic of Pakistan, “Disappearance of the human rights defender Samar Abbas in Pakistan,” dated
March 7, 2017, available at http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/human-
rights/interventions/2017/disappearance-of-the-human-rights-defender-samar-abbas-in-pakistan/5060916.article
(last visited December 29, 2017).
53
Letter of Law Society President Robert Bourns to His Excellency Paul Biya, President, Republic of
Cameroon, “Cameroon: Detention / Military tribunal ruling on civilians,” dated February 13, 2017, available at
http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/human-rights/interventions/2017/cameroon-detention-/-military-tribunal-
ruling-on-civilians/5060748.article (last visited December 29, 2017).
54
Letter of Law Society President Robert Bourns to His Excellency Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President, Arab
Republic of Egypt, “Harassment against the human rights lawyer Azza Soliman in Egypt,” dated February 6,
2017, available at http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/human-rights/interventions/2017/harassment-of-lawyer-
azza-soliman-in-egypt/5060742.article (last visited December 29, 2017).

15
defender in Guatemala,55 attempted killing of the human rights defender Argemiro Lara, who
works on land restitution in Colombia,56 and detention of a human rights lawyer in China.57
C. FBE Resolutions

In 2017, the FBE issued resolutions regarding the independence of

lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and the administration of justice in Eastern Europe, including
Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria,58 and regarding the independence of judges, prosecutors,
lawyers and the administration of justice in Poland. 59

55
Letter of Law Society President Robert Bourns to His Excellency Mr. Jimmy Morales, President,
Republic of Guatemala, “Murder of the human rights defender Alegria Robles,” dated February 6, 2017,
available at http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/human-rights/interventions/2017/murder-of-the-hrd-alegria-
robles-in-guatemala/5060602.article (last visited December 29, 2017).
56
Letter of The Law Society President Robert Bourns to President Mr. Juan Manuel Santos, Republic of
Columbia, “Attempted killing of the human rights defender Argemiro Lara in Colombia,” dated February 3,
2017, available at http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/human-rights/interventions/2017/attempted-killing-of-
the-human-rights-defender-argemiro-lara-in-colombia/5060598.article (last visited December 29, 2017).
57
Letter of The Law Society President Robert Bourns to His Excellency, General Secretary Xi Jinping,
President, People’s Republic of China, “Detention of the human rights lawyer Jian Tianyong,” dated February 6,
2017, available at http://communities.lawsociety.org.uk/human-rights/interventions/2017/detention-of-the-
lawyer-jiang-tianyong-in-china/5060596.article (last visited December 29, 2017).
58
FBE General Assembly Resolution, “The Independence of Judges, Prosecutors, Lawyers and the
Administration of Justice in Eastern Europe, Notably Romania, Poland, Serbia, and Bulgaria,” November 11,
2017, available at http://www.fbe.org/resolution-regarding-the-independence-of-lawyers-judges-prosecutors-
and-the-administration-of-justice-in-eastern-europe-london-11-11-17-5/ (last visited December 29, 2017).
59
FBE General Assembly Resolution, “The Independence of Judges, Prosecutors, Lawyers and the
Administration of Justice in Poland,” June 3, 2017, available at http://www.fbe.org/resolution-regarding-the-
independence-of-judges-prosecutors-lawyers-and-the-administration-of-justice-in-poland-7/ (last visited
December 29, 2017).

16
 D. LAWASIA Statements

In 2017 and 2016, LAWASIA issued statements about the humanitarian

crises in the Rakhine State of Myanmar,60 the treatment of lawyers in China,61 terrorist
attacks on lawyers and others in Pakistan,62 63 and arrests of lawyers in Turkey.64

60
Statement of LAWASIA President Christopher Leong, “Concern regarding Humanitarian Crisis in
Rakhine State of Myanmar,” October 3, 2017, available at
http://www.lawasia.asn.au/statements_and_resolutions.html?doctype=Statement&doccountry=&dockeyword=
(last visited December 30, 2017).
61
Statement of LAWASIA President Prashant Kumar, “Continuing Concern regarding the Treatment of
Lawyers in China,” May 26, 2017, available at
http://www.lawasia.asn.au/statements_and_resolutions.html?doctype=Statement&doccountry=&dockeyword=
(last visited December 30, 2017).
62
Statement of LAWASIA President Prashant Kumar, “Response to Terrorist Attack on Lawyers in
Mardan, Pakistan,” September 5, 2016, available at
http://www.lawasia.asn.au/statements_and_resolutions.html?doctype=Statement&doccountry=&dockeyword=
(last visited December 30, 2017).
63
Statement of LAWASIA President Prashant Kumar, “Response to terrorist attack on lawyers in
Pakistan,” August 11, 2016, available at
http://www.lawasia.asn.au/statements_and_resolutions.html?doctype=Statement&doccountry=&dockeyword=
(last visited December 30, 2017).
64
Statement of LAWASIA President Prashant Kumar, “Concern over arrests of Turkish lawyers,” March
21, 2016, available at
http://www.lawasia.asn.au/statements_and_resolutions.html?doctype=Statement&doccountry=&dockeyword=
(last visited December 30, 2017).

17
 2. Falling Global ROL Rankings

The World Justice Project (“WJP”) ROL Index Reports calculate ROL country
scores and rankings for 113 countries.65 WJP rankings for 201466 and 201667 for ten
“representative” developing countries in diverse regions of the world are shown below.68
These countries fell between 4 and 40 positions from 2014-2016, again, showing the current
accelerating decline in global ROL.

WJP ROL Index – Global Rankings

Country 2014 2016 Change in Global Rank:

2014-2016

China 76 80 -4
Jordan 38 42 -4
Morocco 52 60 -8
Russia 80 92 -12
Uganda 90 105 -15
Tunisia 41 58 -17
Hungary 30 49 -19
Egypt 74 110 -26
Lebanon 49 89 -40
Turkey 59 99 -40

3. Shrinking Fundamental Rights and Judicial Independence

65
The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, available at https://worldjusticeproject.org/our-
work/wjp-rule-law-index (last visited November 12, 20 17). WJP Reports provide a “portrait of the rule of law
in 113 countries by providing scores and rankings organized around eights factors: constraints on government
powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory
enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice. The aggregate country score is the average of the scores on the
eight factors. The scores range from 0-1 with 1 indicating the strongest adherence to the rule of law. The 113
countries are then ranked on the basis of this score. World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2016 at 4, available
at https://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/RoLI_Final-Digital_0.pdf (last visited November
23, 2017).
66
WJP Rule of Law Index 2014 Report, available at https://worldjusticeproject.org/our-
work/publications/rule-law-index-reports/wjp-rule-law-index-2014-report (last visited November 12, 2017).
67
WJP Rule of Law Index 2016, available at https://worldjusticeproject.org/our-work/wjp-rule-law-
index/wjp-rule-law-index-2016 (last visited November 12, 2017).
68
A “higher” score indicates a lower global ranking and “weaker” ROL – a score of 113 is the worst.

18
 Despite constitutional guarantees, many countries constrict fundamental
freedoms of association, expression, press, and religion. 69 Many have grown suspicious of
foreign NGOs as agents of subversion70 and restrict their work through ambiguous legislation
and harassment. 71 Judges who seek to hold their governments accountable to domestic laws
are increasingly punished.72

Tunisia. The draft Law on the Repression of Offences against Armed Forces currently
under consideration would allow indiscriminate restriction of any expression that would
appear to be in some way critical of armed forces.73 Writing an article on the security
flaws of a counterterrorism operation could result in 10 years in prison for “revealing national
security secrets.” 74

Egypt. Egypt’s 2014 Constitution guarantees freedom of the press, prohibits censorship and
bans prison terms for press “crimes.”75 According to the Committee to Protect Journalists,
Egypt was the third worst jailer of journalists in 2016 with 25 journalists behind bars as of
December 1,2016).76 In August 2015, the Egyptian President ratified an anti-terror law that
that stipulates exorbitant fines for contradicting government data on militant attacks. 77

69
U.S Const. amend. I; UN International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, articles 19, 21 and 22,
available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx (last visited November 28, 2017);
UN Universal Declaration of Human Right, articles 19 and 20, available at http://www.un.org/en/universal-
declaration-human-rights/ (last visited November 28, 2017).
70
See infra notes 78-84 and accompanying text.
71
The International Center for Non-for-Profit Law, in its “Survey of Trends Affecting Civil Space 2015-
2016,” noted five common constraints used by states to stifle NGO operations: (i) proposal and adoption of
restrictive NGO laws, (ii) proposal and adoption of anti-protest laws, (iii) closure, de-registration and expulsion
of NGOs, (iv) adoption and manipulation of counterterrorism laws and policies and, (v) adoption of laws and
policies that restrict access to resources, notably including foreign funding and affiliations. Global Trends in
NGO Law, volume 7, issue 4 (September 2016) at 8, available at
file:///D:/ABA%20Narrowing%20civil%20society/050117-
sirvey%20of%20trends%20affecting%20NGO%20space.pdf (last visited November 24, 2017).
72
See infra notes 86-87 and accompanying text.
73
Tunisia: Draft Law on the Repression of Offences against Armed Forces poses serious threat to
freedom of expression, Article 19, May 12, 2015, available at
https://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/37962/en/tunisia:-draft-law-on-the-repression-of-offences-
against-armed-forces-poses-serious-threat-to-freedom-of-expression (last visited on November12, 2017)
74
Amna Guellali, Draft Law Could Return Tunisia to a Police State, Human Rights Watch, July 24, 2017,
available at https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/07/24/draft-law-could-return-tunisia-police-state (last visited on
November 12, 2017). “Denigrating the armed forces,” a vague term easily used to silence all criticism of the
military, would also carry serious penalties. Id.
75
Egypt Constitution arts. 70 and 71, available at http://www.constitutionnet.org/vl/item/egypt-
constitution-2014 (last visited November 24, 2017).
76
Egypt Country Report 2017, Freedom House 2017, available at https://freedomhouse.org/print/49430
(last visited November12, 2017). Turkey was number one and China was number two as of December 1, 2016.
Turkey's crackdown propels number of journalists in jail worldwide to record high, Committee to Protect
Journalists, December 13, 2016, available at https://cpj.org/reports/2016/12/journalists-jailed-record-high-

19
China. The Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly and association.78 Yet the 2016
Foreign NGO law says that “Foreign NGOs . . . must not endanger China’s national unity,
security or ethnic unity” and must register with security agencies. 79 Critical terms, such as
“endanger” and “national unity, security or ethnic unity”, are not defined in the law, which
creates uncertainty and risk.80 Accordingly, ROLI closed its Beijing office in 2016. 81

82
Russia. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and association. Nevertheless, a
2015 Russian law allows prosecutors, without a court order, to declare foreign and
international organizations “undesirable” and shut them down.83 Again, due to the risk
created by ambiguity in the law, the ROLI closed its Moscow office in 2016.84 Additionally,
based on the Yarovaya Law of 2016, Russia’s Supreme Court recently banned the Jehovah's

turkey-crackdown.php (last visited November 28, 2017). Egypt was tied with China for the worst jailer of
journalists in 2015 with 23 journalists in jail on December 1, 2015, CPJ: China, Egypt Top List Of Worst Jailers
Of Journalists In 2015, RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty, available at https://www.rferl.org/a/cpj-worst-jailers-of-
journalists-2015-rights/27428088.html (last visited on November 28, 2017).
77
Egypt imposes anti-terror law that punishes 'false' reporting of attacks, The Guardian.com, August 17,
2015, available at
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/17/egyptian-president-ratifies-law-to-punish-false-reporting-of-
terror-attacks (last visited November 24, 2017).
This law followed a July 1, 2015 terrorist attack in which the media, quoting security officials, reported
that dozens of troops had been killed in the Sinai attack. The military’s official death toll was 21 soldiers and
scores of jihadists. Id. Emphasis added.
78
Constitution of the People’s Republic of China Const. art. 35, available at
https://www.usconstitution.net/china.html (last visited November 25, 2017).
79
2016 PRC Law on the Management of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations' Activities Within
Mainland China. Arts/ 5. 9, China Law Translate, April 28, 2016, available at
http://www.chinalawtranslate.com/2016-foreign-ngo-law/?lang=en (last visited November 12, 2017).
80
Uncertainty Over New Chinese Law Rattles Foreign Nonprofits, New York Times, December 29, 2016,
available at https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/world/asia/china-foreign-ngo.html (last visited November 12,
2017).
81
Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA initiative pulls out of Beijing amid uncertainty caused by law regulating
foreign nonprofits, ABA Journal, January 3, 2017, available at
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/aba_initiative_pulls_out_of_china_amid_uncertainty_caused_by_law_r
egulating (last visited November 12, 2017). This office will remain closed until it can gain formal approval of
its work due to the “heightened scrutiny of foreign organizations working in China and the uncertainties . . . of
how the new law will be implemented.” Id.
82
Russian Federation Constitution, Articles 28, 30 and 31, available at
http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-03.htm (last visited November 25, 2017).
83
“Khodorkovsky’s Otkrytaya Rossia NGO put on “undesirable organizations” list,” RAPSI, Russian
Legal Information Agency, April 27, 2017, available at
http://www.rapsinews.com/news/20170427/278406293.html (last visited November 12, 2017). See also Russian
NGOs cynically treated like enemies of the state, Amnesty International, November 13, 2015, available at
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/11/russian-ngos-cynically-treated-like-enemies-of-the-state/ (last
visited November 12, 2017). See generally Civic Freedom Monitor: Russia, The international Center for Not-
for-Profit Law website (updated as of September 8, 2017) available at
http://www.icnl.org/research/monitor/russia.html (last visited on November 12, 2017).
84
ROLI email communication to the author dated April 20, 2017 (on file with the author).

20
Witnesses as an "extremist" group, making them “legally” similar to such terrorist
organizations as ISIS and Al Qaeda.85

Turkey. As of May 2017, Turkey has removed more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors, a
quarter of the total, on suspicion of links to 2016’s failed coup.86 Those who defy President
Erdogan may suffer. When one court decided to release 21 journalists accused of Gulenist
sympathies from pre-trial detention earlier this spring, three of its judges were suspended.87

V. Proposed GBA Virtual Grassroots Strategy for Fortifying 21st Century Global
ROL

1. Developing Country Legal Education, Bar Associations and Social

Stratification

I have seen firsthand many of the constraints under which LPs are trained and
work. These constraints include legal education systems and professional legal communities
insufficiently suited to performing 21st-century global legal activity. I have also seen
thousands of LPs energized by their exposure to Western legal thinking and to interactive
training in legal skills, legal issues, and professional values. Ultimately, the majority of these
LPs were hungry for far more exposure than existing training resources allowed.

In numerous developing countries, many LPs are unemployed or their compensation is very
low. For instance, as of May 2017, many entry-level LPs are paid US$ 500-1,000 per
month.88 Accordingly, most LPs cannot afford to pay GBA membership dues.89

85
Russia Bans Jehovah’s Witnesses, Calling it an Extremist Group, N.Y. Times, April 20, 2017, available
at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/world/europe/russia-bans-jehovahs-witnesses.html?_r=2 (last visited on
November 12, 2017).
86
Turkey has removed more than 4,000 judges, prosecutors after coup, minister says, Reuters, May 26,
2017, available at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security/turkey-has-removed-more-than-4000-
judges-prosecutors-after-coup-minister-says-idUSKBN18M0Q9 (last visited November 12, 2017).
The vast majority, including two members of the constitutional court, is in prison. The President and
ruling party in Parliament now appoint judges. Turkey’s purges are crippling its justice system, The Economist,
May 20, 2017, available at https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21722200-president-erdogans-drive-
power-includes-putting-judges-under-his-thumb-turkeys-purges-are (last visited November 12, 20 17). See also
Turkey: The Judicial System in Peril – A Briefing Paper, International Commission of Jurists (2016), available
at http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/57ee8e674.pdf (last visited November 12, 2017).
87
Id.
88
ROLI Egypt Judicial Training Program staff personal communication with the author. This is
exacerbated in major cities like Cairo where the cost of living is very high, disposable income is low, and junior
law professors must work a second job to support their families.

21
Legal education in most developing counties is provided through undergraduate programs. In
many civil law countries, it is highly theoretical.90 Many LPs graduate with relatively
underdeveloped analytical and practical skills and little exposure to ethics and professional
values or the value of the rule of law.

Many national bar associations provide law graduates with little or no opportunities for
professional development through continuing legal education, bar conferences, or other
support.91 There is a limited sense of legal community as a whole and little interaction among
LPs across all levels of the legal profession: judges, prosecutors, lawyers, law professors and
law students.

In most developing countries, society is very stratified. This leaves many LPs, such as
women, religious and ethnic minorities, and disabled and LGBT professionals relatively
isolated. Additionally, in-country training may not be widely available, affordable, or even
safe for these professionals. The virtual strategy proposed here transcends these limitations.

2. GBAs’ Spectacular Resources and ROL Leadership

GBAs have a treasure trove of sophisticated, rich and diverse resources and
leadership experience in the development of global ROL. The majority of these GBA
resources are most energetically deployed in a multiplicity of member committees. The small
sample of GBAs identified herein includes 900+ committees, sections or divisions. Offering
complimentary memberships in these GBA committees to LPs extends the committees’
impact, benefits, and values to grassroots judges, prosecutors, lawyers and law professors

89
For example, the ABA’s 2017-18 dues for lawyers licensed as U.S. attorneys are tiered by bar
admission date. Annual dues range from $120 to $467. ABA Membership Dues and Eligibility, available at
https://www.americanbar.org/membership/dues_eligibility.html (last visited November 26, 2017).
90
Law schools may have introductory classes with 2,000 – 3,000 students in the lecture hall, limited
libraries, limited or no audio-visual equipment, and limited online legal research or textbook availability.
Internships and clinical experience are practically nonexistent. Many law professors only lecture with little or no
interactive teaching. Further, there may be little or no homework or required reading. Some law schools have
multiple language sections, including English. Some countries, like Egypt, have limited post-graduate training
for judges and prosecutors.
91
This is not to say that all developing country bar associations are unproductive. See generally Nicholas
Robinson and Catherine Lena Kelly, Rule of Law Approaches to Countering Violent Extremism, ABA Roil Rule
of Law Issue Paper, May 2017, at 9, n. 28 (describing high profile accomplishments of Tunisia and Pakistan bar
associations), available at https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/rule_of_law.html (last visited November 26,
2017) [hereinafter Countering Violent Extremism].

22
throughout the developing world. The ABA committee resources and their potential impact
on LPs is described in detail below as an illustration of the potential value of all GBA
committees to LPs.

A. The ABA

The ABA encompasses 780 committees.92 Committee email

communications and monthly conference calls drive much ABA activity. Data93 suggests that
each committee generates an average of approximately 2,500 emails per month among its
members.94 Extending this to the ABA’s 780 committees indicates that total committee email
traffic may be nearly two million emails per month. Many committees also hold monthly
conference calls.95 Conservatively, an estimated minimum of 195 committee conference calls
occur each month.

The ABA’s history of ROL-building leadership is also rich. An illustrative list of activities
includes: (i) the International Visitors Program in the ABA Office of the President, 96 (ii) the
ABA Groups “Work Around the Globe” webpage,97 (iii) the ABA Around the World
webpage,98 (iv) the ABA Global Impact web page,99 (v) the ABA Global Engagement
Programs webpage,100 and (vi) the International Legal Exchange Program.101 Additionally,

92
Additionally, the ABA has 3,500 entities, 22 Sections, six Divisions, six Forums, sixteen commissions
and nine centers. They address legal matters ranging across the full spectrum of legal practice, from admiralty to
zoning, judicial practice, mergers and intellectual property. See generally About the ABA, available at
http://www.americanbar.org/about_the_aba.html (last visited on May 1, 2017).
93
The data underlying this discussion is based on an unscientific sample of emails generated by certain
ABA committees in which the author is a member.
94
One email to 50 members equals 50 emails.
95
These conference-calls involve discussing committee business, such as webinar development, and
hearing from expert speakers.
96
International Visitors Program, available at
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/international_visitors_program.html
(last visited on May 3, 2017).
97
See generally ABA Groups, available at
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/global-impact/aba-groups.html (last
visited on November 23, 2017). This site lists 291 groups/web pages within 18 sections, 3 divisions, and 6
centers, commissions and initiatives (ranging from antitrust to taxation law).
98
ABA Around the World, available at
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/global-impact/aba-around-the-
world.html (last visited on November 23, 2017). This webpage addresses issues ranging from a Chinese human
rights lawyer to doing business in Cuba.
99
ABA Global Impact, available at
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/global-impact.html (last visited on
November 23, 2017).
100
ABA’s Global Engagement Programs, available at
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/global-impact/aba-global-

23
every year, ROLI delivers ROL training in-country to thousands of LPs in more than 50
countries. 102

B. The Law Society

The Law Society has 9 Divisions, 7 Sections, and 5 Special Interest

Networks ranging from in-house, international, lawyers with disabilities, LGBT lawyers, and
civil litigation, to competition, property, and human rights.103

C. The European Bars Federation/Fédération des Barreaux d’Europe104

The BFE has 13 committees, open to representatives of national bar

associations in Europe, ranging from access to justice, arbitration, and human rights, to legal
education, mediation, and new technologies.105

engagement.html (last visited on November 23, 2017). This webpage links to additional ABA international
activity website, including rule of law letters and global legal practice issues.
101
International Legal Exchange Program (ILEX), available at
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/international_law/initiatives_awards/international_legal_exchange.html (last
visited on May 3, 2017).
102
ABA Rule of Law Initiative, available at http://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/rule_of_law.html
(ROLI Programs Book pdf) (last visited on May 1, 2017)
103
Communities, The Law Society website, available at https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/communities/ (last
visited December 29, 2017).
104
The European Bars Federation/Fédération des Barreaux d’Europe (FBE) was founded in Barcelona on
23rd May 1992, as a successor to the Conférence des Grands Barreaux d’Europe. The FBE membership
includes 250 bar associations, representing approximately 800 000 lawyers. Introduction,
http://www.fbe.org/the-federation/presentation/ (last visited December 29, 2017).
105
Committees, http://www.fbe.org/commitees/ (last visited December 29, 2017).

24
 D. LAWASIA106

LAWASIA has committees on employment and criminal law107 and

sections on business and family law, human rights, and the judiciary. 108

E. The International Bar Association

The IBA has two Divisions: Legal Practices Division (LPD)109 and
Public and Professional Interest Division (PPID).110 The LPD has 18 sections and 55
committees ranging from antitrust, to oil and gas, banking, discrimination and equality, and
intellectual property, to space, family, maritime and tax law. 111 The PPID has 18 committees
ranging from access to justice, human rights, judges, LGBT, senior lawyers, and young
lawyers, to war crimes, and rule of law, as well as a Human Rights Institute.112

F. The Inter-Pacific Bar Association

106
LAWASIA is a regional association of lawyers, judges, jurists and legal organizations, which advocates
for the interests and concerns of the Asia Pacific legal profession. About Law Asia,
http://www.lawasia.asn.au/about_us.html (last visited December 30, 2017).
107
Contact details for Stand Alone Committees, http://www.lawasia.asn.au/stand_alone_committiees.html
(last visited December 30, 2017).
108
LAWASIA Sections, http://www.lawasia.asn.au/sections.html (last visited December 30, 2017).
109
Introduction, Legal Practices Division,
https://www.ibanet.org/Committees/Divisions/Legal_Practice/home.aspx (last visited December 29, 2017). The
objectives of the Legal Practice Division are to promote an interchange of information and views among its
members as to laws, practices and professional responsibilities relating to the practice of law throughout the
world; to facilitate communication among its members; to provide the opportunity to all its members to be
active in the division through its sections, committees, fora and other groupings; and to undertake such related
projects as may be approved from time to time by the division’s council. Ibid.
110
Introduction, The Public and Professional Interest Division. The PPID constitutes a wide array of
projects, activities, committees and other entities focusing on issues and professional interests throughout the
world that make the practice of law a profession and not only an occupation. The PPID is made up of the Bar
Issues Commission (BIC), IBA Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and the Section on Public and Professional
Interest (SPPI).
https://www.ibanet.org/Committees/Divisions/Public_Professional_Interest_Div/ppidhome.aspx (last visited
December 29, 2017).
111
Introduction, Law Practice Division,
https://www.ibanet.org/Committees/Divisions/Legal_Practice/home.aspx (last visited December 29, 2017).
112
SPPI Information, https://www.ibanet.org/PPID/Section_on_Public_and_Professional_Interest.aspx
(last visited December 29, 2017).

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 The IPBA has 23 committees ranging from aviation, banking,
employment, energy, insurance, intellectual property, maritime, technology, and media and
telecommunications, to tax, and women lawyers.113
3. Grassroots Global ROL Capacity Building through Virtual Leverage of
Existing Training Programs

For practical reasons, existing ROL training programs accomplish valuable,

but essentially one-time, engagements with LPs, many of whom are at senior levels. Imagine
building regularized on-going relationships and communication among grassroots LPs and
ABA lawyers and thereby boosting worldwide ROL capacity?

Extending participation in the hundreds of GBA committees to LPs around the world would
enhance the GB’s remarkable diversity of professional activity, committee membership, and
their existing ROL-development missions and programs.114 This virtual capacity-building
strategy is not a quick fix. It offers long-term, continuous, relationship-building and
electronic interaction across the entire legal spectrum. Over time, an expanding pool of
enthusiastic LP participants will dramatically increase the GBA’s ROL-development impact
and global presence.

4. How This Virtual Strategy Will Strengthen LPs and Global ROL

The positive impact of integrating the GBA’s hundreds of committees with

LPs is virtually unlimited. These committees are cauldrons of intellectual energy that raise
the development of its members and the law. They also strengthen professional identity and
pride through a wider a sense of professional community. At a deeper level, they embody
developed-country lawyers’ visceral commitment to democratic values.

113
IPBA Committees, https://ipba.org/about-us/committees/committees-home/155/101/ (last visited
December 30, 2017).
114
Whether an LP is a judge, has a legal practice, teaches or is female, disabled or LGBT, she or he could
interact with likeminded ABA groups, or similar individuals, on a continuing basis. Whether through emails,
conference calls or webinars, LPs’ participation in the ABA would dramatically enlarge their professional
horizons and knowledge. It would enrich ABA committees and groups as well.

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Committee members candidly analyze legal issues in their fields, solicit advice, share arguments and
organize online legal education and training events.115 LP participation in committees will encourage
analytical reasoning, active debate and respectful disagreement, and will immerse LPs in the values of
the global legal profession. It will also give LPs a front-row seat at cutting-edge developments in all
fields of the law and legal practice.116

GBA committees also provide their members with a community that fosters support and
friendship through mutual consultation and professional camaraderie.117 Integrating LPs into
the rich milieu of these diverse groups may reduce their isolation and engage them with
lawyers from different backgrounds on a scale that may not be available to them in their
home countries.118 Finally, their participation in these groups will strengthen their identity as
legal professionals who are part of a global legal community devoted to ROL.

5. What This Proposal Will Cost and Its Similarity to Existing Specialized
Pricing

The GBAs one million+ members already interact digitally, primarily by email
and the Internet. Because this virtual strategy builds on the electronic core of the GBA
systems, the incremental cost of electronically adding more participants is virtually zero.
Accordingly, this proposal should have essentially no impact on the GBAs budget or current
GBA sign-up systems.119

115
This is illustrated by the following excerpts from ABA committee emails that the author received in
2017: (a) “Not sure I agree with the analysis here nor that the solutions proposed are understood very well . . .
First [an Internet message can be tracked back to its source] . . . This is not true.” Science and Technology,
Information Security Committee email sent to author on Feb. 13, 2017 (on file with the author). (b) “A client of
mine negotiated with an entity in Bahrain. She was told she needs an ‘international money laundering
clearance.’ . . . Does anyone know about this?” Transnational Legal Practice Committee email sent to author on
May 15, 2017 (on file with the author). (c) “My opinion is that privacy is dead . . . With current [corporate]
privacy policies and legal theories in contracts/licensing and the ability to sell data between corporations,
Google’s ability to look at my search [etc.] . . . I have no practical way to protect myself.” Science and
Technology committee email sent to author on Feb. 16, 2017 (on file with the author).
116
The value of this approach to strengthening global ROL is highlighted at Countering Violent
Extremism, supra note 91 at 10 (“Rule of law organizations can also help foster independent legal professions
by sustaining the capacity, skills, and knowledge of practicing advocates through continuing legal education
programs, mentorship networks, or legal awareness campaigns.”)
117
These committees are very diverse, comprising business lawyers, women, ethnic groups and LGBT
legal professionals, and they serve judges, prosecutors, lawyers and law professors.
118
The ROL value of reducing social and economic exclusion of marginalized individuals is also
highlighted, in a slightly different context, at Countering Violent Extremism, supra note 91 at 14 (social contract
building).
119
The LP inclusion generated by this policy will not subtract from existing GBA revenue streams. These
LPs are not, and will not be, GBA members absent the strategy proposed here. Additionally, wealthier LPs
already members of the GBAs will not likely cancel a paying membership to obtain a complimentary one.

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This complimentary membership strategy is similar to certain GBA existing specialized
pricing policies for certain categories of lawyers. For example, the ABA has specialized
memberships for law students, young lawyers, solo lawyers, public interest/government and
military lawyers, judges, and seniors.120 The IBA has specialized memberships for full-time
academics, judges, government lawyers, retired lawyers and lawyers from low income
countries.121 LAWASIA has three specialized membership based on the economic conditions
of countries in its region as well as for “young lawyers” admitted to practice less than five
years.122 IPBA has specialized membership for “young lawyers” 35 years old and younger.123
FBE membership is open only to bar associations and membership fees are specialized
according to the number of lawyers in a bar association.124

These specialized memberships have fees that are free or discounted. This reflects a policy
objective of removing financial barriers to the involvement of these groups whose
participation is deemed valuable but who would be unable to participate absent special
payment arrangements. Complimentary memberships for LPs, whose economic
circumstances are onerous, also serve this important policy objective.

6. Implementation125

Under this proposal, the GBAs would create a new membership category for
LPs entering the GBAs on a complimentary basis. One possible title could be Global
Affiliates (“GA”). GAs would qualify for complimentary GBA membership by completing
one rule of law or legal training event provided by a GBA. This ensures that GAs have
initial exposure to the legal system of a developed country. At the conclusion of the event,

120
ABA Membership Dues Discounts, available at
https://www.americanbar.org/membership/dues_eligibility/dues_discounts_payment_plans.html (last visited on
November 25, 2017).
121
IBA, Can I pay a discounted rate for my membership? Available at
https://www.ibanet.org/Membership/Membership_FAQs.aspx#Q17 (last visited January 7, 2018).
122
LAWASIA Membership Types and Fees, http://www.lawasia.asn.au/membership_types.html (last
visited January 7, 2018).
123
IPBA Membership, https://ipba.org/membership/individual-member/70/ (last visited January 07, 2018).
124
Join the FBE, Fees, http://www.fbe.org/membership-form/ (law visited January 7, 2018).
125
This section identifies a number of initial practical steps for starting the LP complimentary membership
program. It does not purport to be complete. Additional elements may be added later and adjustments could be
made as needed.

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GAs would receive a certificate with an electronic code for use in the GBA’s electronic sign-
up system.126

VI. ABA 21st Century Leadership in Fortifying Global ROL

The GBA is the vanguard of global ROL-development and push-back against the
ROL siege. No other organizations can match its mix of leadership, expertise, diversity, and
resources. With global ROL currently under assault and much ROL-development funding
shrinking, the GBA’s innovative leadership is needed now more than ever. The virtual
strategy proposed here expands existing interventions for building the capacity of global ROL
at the grassroots level. In this era of increasing attacks on ROL, now is the time for GBAs to
lead the world in using digital strategies to strengthen LPs in developing countries across the
planet, fortify 21st-century global ROL and expand the GBA’s global membership and
presence.

126
The ABA cost to generate computer code to add this category to the sign-up system should be relatively
minor. The number of complimentary committee sign-ups for GAs could be limited to two or three committees.

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