DePaul University College of Law's International Human Rights Law Institute is working with legal authorities throughout Latin America as they retool their criminal codes and procedure system from the European to the Anglo-American model.

"The Western system gives clients a lawyer who can help them in the courtroom," said Leonard Cavise, DePaul University associate law professor and member of the IHRLI board. Cavise participated in a training session in Guatemala in late March as part of this ongoing project by DePaul's IHRLI.

Previously, Guatemalan judges played multiple roles. They investigated the cases before them, called witnesses, asked the questions, made decisions and then passed judgement.

"The judges don't necessarily like the new system," said Cavise, who said that in the past Guatemalan judges often acted in an arbitrary fashion.

"If this works, DePaul will have helped transform Latin societies where corruption, and not law, is the social order," said Cavise. "It will empower lawyers to defend their clients using tools of trial advocacy and not merely to prostrate themselves at the mercy of the court."

Cavise participated in the First Conference of University Professors of the Criminal Sciences in Guatemala City, which was sponsored by the University of San Carlos to aid the country's conversion to a newly-adopted criminal procedure code.

Since 1994, DePaul's IHRLI has been involved in an ongoing project in Latin and South America to train judges and lawyers on the Western system.

To date, six groups of Guatemalan judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys have attended seminars at DePaul to learn the oral/adversarial system of courtroom procedure. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

"DePaul is honored to support this project for Guatemala's transition toward democracy and the role of law," said Doug Cassel, IHRLI executive director.

Instructors teaching the Anglo-American system need to be fluent in Spanish. "It's difficult," said Cavise, who said that DePaul's College of Law is uniquely able to provide training because there are so many Spanish-speaking faculty and staff.

Training first-year law students in the United States

is easier than changing the behavior of attorneys in Latin America, said Cavise, because students in the United States have been exposed to courtroom procedure through the media and highly-publicized trials.

For more information call Cavise at 312/362-6841.