by Valeri Craigle
The Global Justice Project – Iraq concluded this weekend with its global team of experts gathering in Salt Lake City for closing activities. Dean Hiram Chodosh expressed his gratitude to this unprecedented team – which, among others, included an Irish Barrister, a human rights attorney, and a consulting attorney for the International Monetary Fund – for their hard work and sacrifice. The College of Law was awarded 10 million dollars by the U.S. Department of State in 2008 to assist Iraq in the areas of judicial independence, election law, anti-corruption, criminal procedure, legislative process systems, priority legislation, and constitutional affairs.
From left to right: Sara Burhan Abdullah, Andrew Allen, Muayyad Al-Chalabi (far right)
Informal meetings began Thursday, March 27th with a final debriefing held Saturday at the Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. Team members reported on their respective areas of expertise. Andrew Allen reported on activities in judicial independence and criminal procedure, Jaye Sitton and Sean Gralton on election law, Navin Beekarry on anti-corruption, Muayyad Alchalabi on legislative process systems, Haider Ala Hamoudi and Sara Abdullah on constitutional and legislative affairs, and Trudi Hodges and James Holbrook on their experiences as Chiefs of Party. Each gave an account of the work in Baghdad along with candid statements on lessons learned during the course of the deployments.
Law students participating in the Global Justice Think Tank and a number of project support staff also joined the Saturday session, moderated by Professor Chibli Mallat.
Clockwise: Haider Ala Hamoudi, Navin Beekary, Chibli Mallat, Trudi Hodges, Jaye Sitton, Sean Gralton
The project website is becoming known as a clearinghouse for primary Iraqi legal materials and secondary sources. The site also includes a number of news feeds in both English and Arabic and will soon publish a project analysis listing a number of project deliverables and informational materials. Please visit the website at www.gjpi.org.