USAID contract no. AEP-I-802-96-00030-00 delivery order no. 802 to Chemonics International, Inc. to support a program to assist the Russian National Judicial College judicial reform program

Chemonics International, Inc., will assist the NJC in implementing the project, which will focus on improving training and institutional capacity in both of Russia"s court systems: the Commercial Courts and the Courts of General Jurisdiction. To help develop a new system under which commercial court judges are rapidly and effectively trained on commercial laws and the investment community is kept fully informed of current decisions in important cases, NJC/Chemonics will: (1) develop the ability of the Commercial Courts to provide in-house training on new Russian commercial law; (2) provide equipment and training to enable the Supreme Commercial Court and appeals-level courts to share substantive information on decisions; and (3) if conditions are favorable, launch and replicate a pilot project to replace the current protocol system of court reporting. To help the Courts of General Jurisdiction develop the governing, training, and administrative organs need to gain independence from the Ministry of Justice, NJC/Chemonics will: (1) hold a limited number of workshops, in coordination with its European donor counterparts, on organizational and administrative needs of the new judicial department, and provide the latter with information and organizational design support, linkages between key personnel and their U.S. counterparts, and training and exchange programs; (2) explore the possibility of helping the Judicial Department produce for the courts policies and guidelines analogous to the U.S. "Guide to Judiciary Policies and Procedures"; (3) help the Supreme Court create the new Judicial Training Institute; (4) develop the ability of the Council of Judges to function as a governing body for Russian judges, including further development of existing links to the United State Judicial Conference, assistance in creating a committee system within the Council of Judges, and improving members" ability to interact with each other on a regular basis; and (5) track the development of a system of justices of the peace. In light of the diminished role USAID will play in the future of legal reform in Russia, NJC/Chemonics will create partnerships between U.S. and Russian legal institutions based on the following criteria: (1) similarity in function between the U.S. and Russian institutions; (2) ability to attract non-USAID resources to the project in the short term and to continue support after USAID funding ceases; (3) ability to foster additional partnerships between U.S. and Russian legal institutions and to show clear mutual benefits between U.S. and Russian institutions. NJC/Chemonics will coordinate their activities closely with other USAID-funded Rule of Law programs, as well as with non-USAID programs, such as the Russian Foundation for Legal Reform and the Know How Fund.