Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan Places First Afghan Candidate in Visiting Scholars Program in the United States

The State Department’s Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, working in collaboration with the American legal community, the Federal Judicial Center, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, placed its first Afghan candidate into the Visiting Scholars Program at Whittier Law School in Orange County, California. Whittier Law School waived tuition, a value estimated at $40,000, and the law firm of Bingham McCutchen contributed $25,000 to Whittier Law School to cover lodging, meals, and travel expenses. At least ten other law schools throughout the country have offered to waive tuition in order for Afghan legal professionals to either obtain a master of laws degree or participate in a visiting scholars program.

Launched by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in December 2007, the Public-Private Partnership has received pledges exceeding $1.3 million in monetary and in-kind contributions. In June 2008, the Partnership hosted 16 Afghan prosecutors, of which three were women, at the University of Utah Law School for a three-week training program. In January 2009, the Partnership intends to hold an Afghan Women Lawyers Training and Empowerment Conference for 14 female judges, defense attorneys, and lawyers. All of these efforts are thanks to the generous contributions and support of the American legal community.

The Public-Private Partnership is co-chaired by David T. Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and Robert C. O’Brien, a partner at Arent Fox LLP and former U.S. Alternate Representative to the United Nations.