Institute’s Raising the Bar Program Aims to Strengthen Legal Education in Iraq

The law library at Baghdad University in Iraq has been restored with assistance from the International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at DePaul University. This is the first of three law library renovations that the institute has undertaken as part of its Raising the Bar: Legal Education Reform in Iraq program, which focuses on rebuilding legal education in Iraq and which is funded by a $3.8 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development. The libraries of the universities of Sulaimaniya and Basra soon will be inaugurated as well.

Baghdad University’s library, spared significant damage from looting following the 2003 invasion, had nonetheless suffered from 30 years of neglect. Despite the many challenges of doing reconstruction work in Iraq, the IHRLI moved forward with the project. The institute recently hosted an unveiling celebration in Baghdad to showcase the new law library and it was attended by prominent Iraqi officials. In the backdrop of the celebration was the work that served as the catalyst for the accomplishment.

The institute’s efforts to rebuild the library included contributions in the areas of technical and administrative support, library resource assistance, repairs and construction that helped to get the library functioning again. Among the institutes’ contributions were print and electronic resources, a cataloguing system, new furniture and shelving, internet access, renovated building facilities and a basic collection of books.

“The opening of this law library is particularly momentous because legal education reform in Iraq will prove to be a fundamental pillar of support to the democratic progress and economic recovery in the country,” said M. Cherif Bassiouni, president of the IHRLI. “The library renovation project is one of several areas in which the institute is committed to helping build a strong foundation for the future of legal education and human rights in Iraq.”

The Legal Education Reform project has been conducted in Iraq for the last 18 months and involves 11 law schools. Its main focus is to assist in training law professors in rule of law principles within a country seeking to rebuild basic institutions following decades of a brutal, authoritarian regime. The program highlights a central role of rule of law—human rights and democratic ideas—within the country by establishing close working relationships with a broad array of Iraqi legal professionals.

IHRLI’s work in Iraq also includes a project in cooperation with the American Bar Association and the National Democratic Institute, a nonprofit organization working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. The partnerships’ collaborative work will help the new Iraqi legislature draft a constitution. IHRLI will prepare a briefing book in Arabic on major legal issues facing the drafters. The institute also will soon sign a new contract with the U.S. Department of State to develop a comprehensive program for human rights education in Iraq.

Established in 1990 within DePaul’s College of Law, IHRLI’s work and programs—including its efforts in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, El Salvador, Guatemala, and other parts of the world that have suffered the ravages of conflict—have helped showcase DePaul’s mission of service as well as extend its contributions to the international human rights law arena.

Editor’s Note: To inquire about before and after photos of the renovation, please contact Valerie Phillips, DePaul Media Relations, at 312/362-5039 or vphillip@depaul.edu .