Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 19-26, 1999

Volume 27, Number 29

Conference will explore West's
role in Soviet legal reform

The future of Western efforts to bring about legal reform in the former Soviet Union will be the topic of a two-day conference Friday-Saturday, April 23-24, at the Law School, 127 Wall St.

Titled "Promoting Legal Reform in the Former Soviet Union," the conference will bring together representatives from groups concerned with promoting change in the former Soviet states, including academics and practitioners, people from institutions within the former Soviet Union, and representatives of funding organizations.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Western organizations and individuals have spent much time and money on legal reform. However, now that many of the new countries have set up their institutions and drafted their laws, the role of Western organizations seems less clear, say the conference organizers, .

The conference will look at the phenomenon of Western assistance for post-Soviet legal reform. Among the questions that participants will consider are: "Is there a continuing role for Western aid in promoting the development of accountable, effective and efficient institutions?" "What have the strategies been so far, and have they been successful?" "What have been the biggest obstacles?" "What should be the goals?" And, "How does one measure accomplishment?"

The heart of the conference will consist of the five panels moderated by the following scholars: commercial law, Henry Hansmann of Yale; constitutional law, Paul Gewirtz of Yale; the judiciary, Robert Gordon of Yale; administrative and public law, Susan Rose-Ackerman of Yale; and legal education, Stephen Holmes of Princeton University and New York University School of Law.

The conference is organized by the Russia and Eastern Europe Law Forum, a student organization at the Law School, and receives support from the Law School and the Yale Center for Studies in Law, Economics, and Public Policy. Conference cosponsors include Debevoise & Plimpton, PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Firm, the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights, Yale Law Women, and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies.

Opening and closing sessions are open to the public. Those interested in attending the panel sessions will be admitted on a space-available basis and should email Karen Johnson at karen.k.johnson@yale.edu or vladpchol@aol.com.

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