Establishing and Reforming Bar Associations in Post-Conflict States (CR 10-001)

Establishing andReforming BarAssociations in Post-Conflict States

INPROL Consolidated Response (10-001)

With contributions from Wendy Betts, Scott Carlson, Gary Hill, Louis Gary Lissade, ZachMcKinney, Ngozi C. Nwosu, Vivienne O’Connor, David Rubino, Gina Schaar, AndrewSolomon and Claude ZulloDrafted by Christina Murtaugh

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STABLISHING AND

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EFORMING

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SSOCIATIONS IN

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ONFLICT

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INPROL Consolidated Response (10-001)

January 2010

Submitted by:

Hans Sachs, Facilitator, UN DPKO Peacekeeping Rule of Law Network

Drafted by:

Christina Murtaugh, Researcher, Rule of Law (ROL) Program, US Instituteof Peace

With contributions from:

1. Wendy Betts, National Center for State Courts2. Scott Carlson, Senior USIP ROL Advisor, INPROL ROL Facilitator 3. Gary Hill, INPROL Corrections Facilitator 4. Louis Gary Lissade, Port-au-Prince Bar Association5. Zach McKinney, INPROL Program Specialist6. Ngozi C. Nwosu, Nigerian Bar Association7. Vivienne O’Connor, Senior USIP ROL Advisor 8. David Rubino, American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative Azerbaijan9. Gina Schaar, American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative Kosovo10. Andrew Solomon, Deputy Director and Fellow, Brookings-Bern Project onInternal Displacement, Brookings Institution, INPROL ROL Council of Experts11. Claude Zullo, American Bar AssociationThe full text of the responses provided by these INPROL members can be found athttp://www.inprol.org/node/4442. INPROL invites further comment by members.

Note:

All opinions stated in this consolidated response have been made in a personalcapacity and do not necessarily reflect the views of particular organizations. INPROLdoes not explicitly advocate policies.

January 2010 INPROL Consolidated Response (

10-001

) Page 1 of 33

Query:

UNMIT's Administration of Justice Support Unit is currently planning to assist infacilitating the establishment of an independent bar association in Timor-Leste.Could you please share your experiences, lessons learned, best practices and relevantguidance material, documents and reports on how best to facilitate the establishment of an independent bar association? Any reference to previous work on this of (non-UN)development partners will also be very useful.

Background:

This Consolidated Response focuses on methodologies and comparative approaches toestablishing or reforming an independent bar association in post-conflict states. It hasbeen drafted with the assistance of Vivienne O’Connor, United States Institute of Peace,and Claude Zullo, American Bar Association. Information from the field has beenprovided by Wendy Betts, National Center for State Courts, Gary Hill, INPROLCorrections Facilitator

,

Louis Gary Lissade, Port-au-Prince Bar Association, Ngozi C.Nwosu, Nigerian Bar Association, David Rubino, American Bar Association Rule of LawInitiative Azerbaijan, and Gina Schaar, American Bar Association Rule of Law InitiativeKosovo. It combines publicly available literature and the practical experiences of expert-practitioners on the establishment and reform of bar associations.

In furtherance of human rights and the rule of law, a society necessarily requires astrong, independent cadre of lawyers. Bar associations essentially serve three roles: aseducators, regulators, and lobbyists for the legal profession. The United Nationsprovides guidance on these functions in theUnited Nations Basic Principles on the Roleof Lawyers (1990), which argues for an independent association of lawyers. It further recommends that the bar association create standards for admission that promotes bothhigh ethical and high legal services standards. Both the Council of Europe and AfricanUnion have supplemented these principles with their own recommendations. Thisresponse provides an overview of international standards on the establishment of bar associations and complements this with comparative examples of domestic legislationand practice relating to bar associations.

Response Summary:

Part I briefly provides an overview of how to assess the existing state of the legalprofession in a post-conflict state. Part II discusses the establishment of a bar association. Part III then looks at the development of the bar association. To enhancethis comparative approach, this paper also includes annexes providing overviews of bar associations, as well as links to enabling legislations, by-laws, and codes of conduct.