The history of what has been called a "rule of law Marshall Plan" is captured in a new book filled with both historical detail and dozens of personal accounts.
The 67-chapter story, "Building the Rule of Law: Firsthand Accounts from a Thirty-Year Global Campaign," begins with the fall of the Berlin Wall and documents the beginnings, challenges and successes of more than 5,000 volunteers and the growth of this initiative into a global campaign that has, to date, reached more than 100 countries.
Participants in the American Bar Association rule of law efforts have included U.S. Supreme Court justices, dedicated staff and hundreds of volunteers who lived for a year or more without pay in countries seeking to build societies based on the rule of law.
Edited by two longtime ABA leaders, this volume contains the accounts and perspectives of those who conceived and directed the original Central and Eastern European Law Initiative (CEELI) project, dozens of volunteers with remarkable stories to tell, builders of a permanent rule of law institute in Prague (the CEELI Institute) and the lawyers and judges who led these efforts into a global project, now known as the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI).
More than 45 accounts come from volunteers who lived and worked in countries seeking to restructure their governments and legal systems. These are initiatives that have changed the lives of countless people around the world - and the lives of many who served as volunteers.
Former ABA President James R. Silkenat and former ABA International Law Section Chair Gerold W. Libby served as the book's editors. They not only pulled together this history, complete with country-specific accounts and some 100 photographs, but also analyses that discuss the meaning of the term "the rule of law," describe lessons learned from 30 years of work on the ground, and consider what may lie ahead.
"Building the Rule of Law: Firsthand Accounts from a Thirty-Year Global Campaign" is available in hardback and as an eBook for $39.95. To order, visit www.shopaba.org.
