Since 1990 there has been an exponential increase in the number and type of professionals and organisations involved in law reform efforts in developing, post-conflict and fragile states worldwide. The speed of rule of law ‘industry’ expansion has outstripped its professional capacities. Rule of law assistance providers around the world recognise that they have a serious expertise deficit.

This project builds an international network of academic and industry partners focused on developing more expert, effective and accountable professional practices in rule of law (ROL) assistance by bilateral and multilateral donors and project implementers worldwide. The network collaborates on the design of a mixed-methods empirical mapping of the ROL industry. It draws on theoretical insights from responsive regulation to analyse the regulatory challenges for organisations and professionals who design and deliver ROL assistance.

Project components

Toward responsive rule of law: Actors and accountability

One of the understudied aspects of transmission of international law and legal norms to developing countries is the role and responsibility of foreign actors.

This book of conceptual essays by scholar practitioners in the field draws on existing work in regulatory theory, professional responsibility and development ethics. At a practical level, it explores:

• the rule of law industry structure and its effects;
• professional competence and responsibility in rule of law interventions;
• regulatory challenges for a globalized multi-level industry;

and seeks to develop ideas for action that will resonate with key industry actors. This volume in preparation builds on an invitational workshop held in the Hague in 2010 and funded by the Hague Institute for Internationalisation of Law (HiiL).

Effective civil-military cooperation in rule of law

This empirical study assumes that the ‘who’ and the ‘how’ of rule of law (ROL) assistance matter. Australia remains a lead bilateral donor for legal and judicial assistance internationally. We know anecdotally that the professional capacities and personal attributes of practitioners who consult, advise, design and deliver ROL assistance impacts project outcomes, in both intended and unintended ways. This project seeks a systematic way to identify civil and military performance challenges in the field, to identify the attributes of ROL professionalism, and to unlock practitioners’ tacit knowledge using robust empirical methods.