Reviews
Brazil - Civil Justice Reform
"[T]here is a growing base of support for mediation in
Brazil. This has occurred because of increased access and attention
to information on the subject which was partly generated by
our programs with ISDLS. The Sao Paulo State Superior Court
is in the process of implementing a mediation pilot program
which should be functional by the end of this year. Many of
the pilot program characteristics were adapted from information
collected during the February visit to study U.S. and California
mediation models.
We have benefited greatly from your efficiency and competence
in designing and coordinating programs with highly talented,
professional and knowledgeable representatives of the U.S. legal
system – individuals who not only know their business,
but know how to transmit their experience."
- Mr. Kazuo Watanabe, leader of the Brazil Civil Justice
Legal Study Group, to ISDLS Board President, Robert Goodin,
September 2002
India - Civil Justice Reform
"I wish to record and convey to you and your country the
success of an outstanding and on-going Indo-US collaboration,
which has culminated in the establishment of the first lawyer
run mediation centre in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, created and
established jointly by the Institute for Arbitration Mediation
Legal Education And Development (AMLEAD), a not-for-profit non-governmental
organization and Ahmedabad Bar Association, the largest civil
court practitioners’ association in Gujarat, with the
guidance, support and initiative of Institute for Study and
Development of Legal Systems (ISDLS), San Francisco, USA."
- Mr. Naranjan Bhatt, an advocate involved in the Indian
Civil Justice Reform Project, to ISDLS Executive Director Stephen
Mayo, September 2002
Egypt - Civil Justice Reform
"As you know, I consider your work with the Ministry of
Justice in civil law a very important component of the Embassy’s
overall effort to improve the functioning of institutions key
to Egypt’s progress toward greater democratization and
economic reform. . . . I look forward to working with you as
the authorities here move toward the establishment of a flexible
and accommodating system for the resolution of disputes."
- U.S. Ambassador (Egypt) Edward S. Walker, Jr. to ISDLS
Executive Director Stephen Mayo, August 1996
Israel - Civil Justice Reform
"I consider the work that all of you have done critical,
not only to the judicial system, narrowly defined, but also
to the future of the peace process. Through your hours of donated
work, your conscientious effort, and your willingness over the
past year to put professional calling above other issues, each
of you has given a most valuable gift.
At critical points in human history, there [are] few people
courageous and dedicated enough to forge new relationships and
shape new realities. I suspect that history may well judge you,
the Palestinian and American judges and lawyers in this group,
to be among that privileged few."
- U.S. Consul General (Jerusalem) Edward Abington
to ISDLS Executive Director Stephen Mayo, June 1995
Malaysia - Civil Justice Reform
The Institute for the Study and Development of Legal Systems
(ISDLS), based in San Francisco, made a major breakthrough in
its State Department-funded (ECA/PE) judicial/legal reform project
in Malaysia on February 28-29. They conducted a major workshop
on criminal and civil justice reforms with 30 senior officers
of the Attorney General's Office. The Attorney General took
personal interest in this project, holding a long meeting with
the ISDLS delegation (which included the brother of US Supreme
Court Justice Breyer) and ensuring good attendance at their
workshop on case management and judicial authority in the U.S.
The Attorney General’s office is now ready to send a team
of four senior officers to California for a two-week course
studying alternative dispute resolution (ADR) precedents and
better case management in Malaysian courts. This completes the
ADR training in Malaysia, which started off with a Citizen's
Exchange grant to ISDLS to work with Malaysian Judiciary and
Bar Council members in 2001.
This Citizen's Exchange has given us unprecedented access to
the Chief Justice of the Malaysian High Court, the Attorney
General and top lawyers, judges and prosecutors in Malaysia
during its three-year program cycle, and it promises to show
continued interaction between ISDLS and the Malaysian judiciary
in the form of follow-on programs funded by other sources. If
the end result is a more efficient, independent and open judicial
system in Malaysia, one of our MPP priorities, all will benefit
greatly.”
- Steven Prieto, U.S. Department of State, March 2004
U.S. Department of State
"In view of the success of the ISDLS program, I would
recommend your continued support for such efforts and your encouraging
U.S.I.A., which has been so creative in its exploitation of
these programs, to remain active in this area. Likewise, programs
such as this one, that combine our interests in democratization,
support for commercial initiatives, conflict resolution, and
professional exchange should be noted in the Department’s
and U.S.I.A.’s presentations to the Congress as demonstrations
of what we can achieve at minimal cost to advance multiple objectives."
- U.S. Ambassador (India) Frank G. Wisner to U.S. Secretary
of State Warren Christopher, October 1996
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