WASHINGTON—With the 2010 World Cup currently underway in South Africa, roughly 8,255 miles away in Washington, D.C. a group of women gathered to discuss judicial reform in the less wealthy and developed nations in Africa. On June 22, the Woman’s National Democratic Club hosted Mary A. Gooden Terrell, retired associate judge of the superior court in the District of Columbia, in a discussion of her work on international judicial training in Africa. She also spoke on her local initiatives, including the founding of High Tea Society for elementary and junior high school at-risk girls in Washington, D.C.
Recognizing a need for judicial reform in Africa, Judge Terrell travels to Africa to train judges in the areas of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Judicial Assessment and Reform. Terrell has been to Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania and South Africa, creating the African Judicial Network, which she described as a sharing of best practices among African country judges.
“…You now have a dual system, the citizens who want access to justice and the people with the money who can pay for the justice that they want,” said Judge Terrell, in a description in African countries of the tension between the rule of law versus the corrupt, bribery prone, kind of justice.
Other shortcomings of the African judicial system recognized by Terrell include a lack of advocacy organizations working for judiciary reform, case management systems, and court staff including interns and court reporters. Additionally, Terrell reported of African prison overcrowding, corruption, and the gap in communication between judges and the general population.
Although programs exist to promote economic development in Africa and foster trade relations between the Africa and the United States, Terrell argues that central to the success of those economic initiatives is the development of the rule of law in Africa.
“To me the promotion of trade without rule of law is a contradiction. Because one of the things that corporations want is protection for their property, they want immediate access to justice, and they want their staff and people protected,” said Terrell.
Terrell recommended that judicial reform initiatives be added as a requirement for countries to receive funding through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). MCC is a U.S. foreign aid agency that forms partnerships with developing countries, to provide well-performing countries with large-scale grants to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth.
“When you talk about real judicial reform in Africa, you talk about building an infrastructure, you’re talking about bringing people in to train clerks to work in the courts, setting up a centralized system to manage the cases,” said Terrell.”
In January and February 2005 the World Bank Institute held a judicial learning program in the Anglophone Ghana and Nigeria that dealt with the concept of ADR, whereby parties in dispute agree to settle their conflict through mediation—or at least give it a try before bringing civil suits to a courtroom.
The general aim of the WBI program is to share experiences on how to improve legal and judicial performance. According to the World Bank Institute website, the objective of the WBI learning program is to contribute to the improvement of a more impartial and accountable judiciary that is able to control corruption and improve governance. The participants included judges and court personnel, Attorney General office personnel, parliamentarians, law professors, and NGOs active in judicial/legal reform.
In addition to promoting the rule of law of civil society in Africa, Judge Terrell founded the High Tea Society in 1997, to mentor and prepare at-risk girls to enter the established civil society in the United States. The eight year program begins at fourth grade and continues through high school. It caters to the entire development of the girls, exposing them to culture, arts, lifestyle improvement, community service and the international community.
“…You now have a dual system, the citizens who want access to justice and the people with the money who can pay for the justice that they want,” said Judge Terrell, in a description in African countries of the tension between the rule of law versus the corrupt, bribery prone, kind of justice.
Other shortcomings of the African judicial system recognized by Terrell include a lack of advocacy organizations working for judiciary reform, case management systems, and court staff including interns and court reporters. Additionally, Terrell reported of African prison overcrowding, corruption, and the gap in communication between judges and the general population.
Although programs exist to promote economic development in Africa and foster trade relations between the Africa and the United States, Terrell argues that central to the success of those economic initiatives is the development of the rule of law in Africa.
“To me the promotion of trade without rule of law is a contradiction. Because one of the things that corporations want is protection for their property, they want immediate access to justice, and they want their staff and people protected,” said Terrell.
Terrell recommended that judicial reform initiatives be added as a requirement for countries to receive funding through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). MCC is a U.S. foreign aid agency that forms partnerships with developing countries, to provide well-performing countries with large-scale grants to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth.
“When you talk about real judicial reform in Africa, you talk about building an infrastructure, you’re talking about bringing people in to train clerks to work in the courts, setting up a centralized system to manage the cases,” said Terrell.”
In January and February 2005 the World Bank Institute held a judicial learning program in the Anglophone Ghana and Nigeria that dealt with the concept of ADR, whereby parties in dispute agree to settle their conflict through mediation—or at least give it a try before bringing civil suits to a courtroom.
The general aim of the WBI program is to share experiences on how to improve legal and judicial performance. According to the World Bank Institute website, the objective of the WBI learning program is to contribute to the improvement of a more impartial and accountable judiciary that is able to control corruption and improve governance. The participants included judges and court personnel, Attorney General office personnel, parliamentarians, law professors, and NGOs active in judicial/legal reform.
In addition to promoting the rule of law of civil society in Africa, Judge Terrell founded the High Tea Society in 1997, to mentor and prepare at-risk girls to enter the established civil society in the United States. The eight year program begins at fourth grade and continues through high school. It caters to the entire development of the girls, exposing them to culture, arts, lifestyle improvement, community service and the international community.
