JUSTRAC is a cooperative agreement between the Rule of Law Collaborative, University of South Carolina, and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Established in 2014, JUSTRAC is designed to:
- Improve the skills and knowledge of individuals funding, designing, managing, or implementing justice sector programs in post-conflict and transitional states;
- Increase opportunities for coordination and collaboration among USG donors, implementers, NGOs, academic institutions, international organizations, foreign governments, and multilateral institutions;
- Strengthen justice sector programming so as to have real impacts on host countries’ ability to reform their legal systems; and
- Provide a multitude of stakeholders the opportunity to share their experiences and lessons regarding justice sector programming.
The training organized at USIP on April 4-5 gave to about 50 United States government officials the opportunity to explore the unique features of the most widespread legal system in the world – the Civil Law system. The course introduced participants to the underpinnings and structure of the civil law system – its history, sources of law, codification process, legal education system, court structure, and actors. Next, it explored how the system has been implemented in countries from different regions around the world. On Day 2, the course used examples from specific program experiences to explore the role of different actors – the U.S. Government, multilateral organizations, foreign donors, and NGOs – in justice sector and rule of law programming in countries with civil law traditions focusing on practical applications and discussed specific programs from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and post-Soviet states, Latin America, and the Middle East. Our expert Corrado Quinto shared with the audience his experience in human rights, rule of law, and transitional justice program management in Mauritania, Western Sahara, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tunisia.
