In 80 countries around the world over the past 30 years, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI) has worked with lawyers, judges and civil society to promote the rule of law.

Key among its programs have been safeguarding the independent judiciary; emphasizing the important role the judiciary plays in a democratic society; working with civil society and non-governmental organizations to strengthen the judiciary and provide access to justice; and training judges, lawyers and government officials on ethics, transparency, constitutional protections and substantive areas such as procedure, corruption, human trafficking, Internet freedom and human rights.

In addition, ROLI has developed tools to assess judicial independence. This sustained effort over three decades has had a major impact in shaping judiciaries and protecting judicial independence. This work has been done through judicial and lawyer volunteers, and professional staff drawn primarily from the locales where ROLI has worked.

In recognition of this work, the Federal Judges Association of the United States successfully nominated ROLI to receive the Judicial Independence Award from the International Judges Association (IAJ), the largest association of jurists with member organizations in 92 countries across all continents.

In making the award, IAJ President Duro Sessa of Croatia highlighted “The role of ABA-ROLI, the courage and the absolute commitment of its prestigious members” and “the long standing engagement of ABA ROLI in defense of the values of rule of law and judicial independence and its programs aimed at strengthening legal institutions, supporting legal professions, fostering respect for human rights and advancing public understanding of the law and of citizen rights.”

On behalf of ROLI, Judge M. Margaret McKeown from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco accepted the award in October in a ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, at the General Assembly of the Central Council of the IAJ. McKeown serves as vice chair of the ROLI Board (along with Debra Enix Ross) and is a United States delegate to the IAJ. The chair of the ROLI board is former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Origins of ROLI

After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a renaissance in legal and political reform spread through Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states. In response, the ABA founded the Central and European Law Initiative (CEELI), which responded to calls for help in drafting constitutions and statutes, building legal institutions and promoting a culture of law. Instead of advocating for an American-centric approach, CEELI let the host country partners take the lead in shaping the programs.

By 2000, over 5,000 volunteers from around the world had focused on judicial restructuring in both criminal and commercial law. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, was a leader in the initiative.

Building on the success in Europe and Central Asia, the initiative expanded to Asia in 1998 and, by 2000, to Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. Several years later, the programs extended to the Middle East and North Africa. ROLI is governed by a board of volunteer judges and lawyers.

Strengthening governance and justice systems

An essential component of ROLI’s work is the strengthening of governance and justice systems. These efforts extend across the justice section, from the bench to the bar, the public square and the classroom. Importantly, this work has focused on long-term institutional changes that strengthen the judiciary. While ROLI has sponsored a number of meetings and conferences focused on judicial independence, understanding the nature of the on-the-ground work provides a more nuanced view of ROLI’s impact.

Some projects undertaken by ROLI

   • Developing and implementing the Judicial Reform Index to assess judicial reform and independence, using comparative analyses of legal traditions, international standards and regional norms. Not long ago, ROLI brought together key players in the area to consider how to measure success in justice reform.

   • Collaborating in 2023 with the Southern East African Chief Justices Forum to provide legal guidance for judicial officers and creating the Bench Book on Computer Crimes and Cybercrimes in Southern Africa.

   • Working with judges from Pakistan, Egypt, Poland, Turkey, Algeria and Venezuela, among others, to craft and implement ethics codes.

   • Sponsoring an international symposium for East African high court justices and judges on combating international and transnational crimes, including participation by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

   • Cooperating with the courts in the Philippines to address access to the court system, automation of court records and nationwide implementation of small-claims procedures.

   • Partnering with ministries of justice, local courts, law schools and national training centers to assist in the monumental process of shifting from the inquisitorial to the adversarial model in criminal justice. Intensive training has been the hallmark of programs in the Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Mexico.

   • Building confidence in the judiciary through community trust, including working with hundred of judges on a Judicial Media Guide, instructing on the ethical bounds of judges’ relationships with the media.

   • Opening mobile courts in Africa to promote access to justice in human trafficking and domestic violence cases.

   • Sponsoring “Roads to Justice” programs in Mexico, Morocco and Panama to promote transparency and combat corruption by education citizens and connecting courts to the citizens.

   • Promoting transitional justice programs in Mali after a coup resulted in massive human rights abuses. Similarly, ROLi as worked in Moldova, Armenia, Nepal and Russia, undertaking training on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights.

   • Prioritizing judicial work in the human trafficking arena, including creating a Human Trafficking Assessment Tool to measure compliance with the United Nations Trafficking Protocol. Recent programs included a collaboration with the judiciary in Colombia. Given the magnitude of the challenge, nearly 28 million victims worldwide, ROLI has worked with judiciaries in countries ranging from the Solomon Islands to Haiti.

The award is particularly timely in light of ROLI’s expanding work in the judicial arena and the increasing pressure on judicial independence from authoritarian regimes in many parts of the world.

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ABA Abroad is a column highlighting the work of the ABA’s Center for Global Programs, which comprises the Rule of Law Initiative, Center for Human Rights and the ABA’s presence at the United Nations.

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This column reflects the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

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Religious Law

11th Circuit rules for athletic association that refused to allow pregame prayer over PA system

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 4, 2024, 10:09 am CDT

A federal appeals court has ruled against a private Christian school alleging that its First Amendment rights were violated when the Florida High School Athletic Association rejected its request to broadcast a pregame prayer over the public address system.

In a Sept. 3 decision, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta found no violation of the Cambridge Christian School’s rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, report Courthouse News Service and the Florida Phoenix.

After the prayer request was denied, the Cambridge Christian School and the opposing team prayed at midfield before play began in the 2015 state championship football game at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

Messages on the PA system before the championship game at a government-owned stadium were government speech with no First Amendment restrictions, the 11th Circuit said.

Three factors—history, endorsement and control—support the conclusion that the PA system policy was government speech, the appeals court said.

The history of the pregame speech in playoff games shows that it was entirely scripted and typically limited, making it traditional government speech. Observers could reasonably think that the pregame comments were endorsed by the government. And the association controlled the script. PA announcers had to follow instructions for promotional announcements, player introductions and awards ceremonies.

The appeals court also said the Tampa, Florida, Christian school’s request for declaratory and injunctive relief are moot because of a new Florida law and new policy by the association. The law, which took effect in July 2023, requires the association to allow schools to make opening remarks that can include prayers at championship games.

Under association policy adopted to comply with the law, opening remarks must be under two minutes in length and carry a disclaimer that they are not endorsed by the association. The remarks cannot be derogatory, rude or threatening.

The appeals court also said the Cambridge Christian School lacked standing for an injunction because there is no indication that it will return to the championship soon.

“Hope springs eternal, but standing cannot be built on hope,” the 11th Circuit said. “With all due respect to the Cambridge Christian Fighting Lancers, there’s nothing to suggest that the team’s participation in a future football state championship is imminent or even likely.”

The school was represented by the First Liberty Institute, a group that litigates religious liberty cases, according to a prior June 2023 press release on the case.

See also:

Supreme Court rules for praying football coach, drops Lemon test

Gorsuch and Kavanaugh sour on Lemon endorsement test in praying football coach case

Supreme Court considers whether high school football coach has right to pray on the field