Dec. 12, 2007 – About 20 faculty members from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law will participate in a program to train Afghan prosecutors, helping the Afghan people develop fair, equitable and effective legal institutions and processes.

The hands-on technical and practical training program – named the Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan – was scheduled to be announced at 5 p.m. EST (3 p.m. MST) Thursday, Dec. 13 at a Washington event hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice was expected to announce the innovative program with Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabit of Afghanistan in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department’s Harry S. Truman Building in Washington.

The partnership includes the Afghan Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of State and the Global Justice Project at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.

After years of war and the dismantling of legal institutions, the Afghanistan Attorney General’s Office has prioritized the need for the hands-on, basic technical training of prosecutors. With guidance from the Attorney General’s Office, the Global Justice Project at the S.J. Quinney College of Law will provide training on critical areas including investigation, indictment, prosecution and management, with particular emphasis placed on protection of the rights of the accused.

The Global Justice Project will enlist experts in training, institutional justice reform, Islamic law, comparative constitutional law, criminal procedure, mediation, human rights and global security. Experts include academics with experience in the region, prominent U.S. judges, lawyers and prosecutors, and experts on Afghanistan. Some 20 faculty members from the University of Utah College of Law will participate in the program.

While the American experts will train Afghanis, they also will receive training about Afghan culture and law. The long-term objective of the program is to provide instructional methods that will help to reach some 2,000 prosecutors in professional training programs throughout Afghanistan. 

Located at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, the S. J. Quinney College of Law is a dynamic research, training and service institution, with outstanding centers and expertise in environmental law, criminal justice and many other fields, as well as innovative leadership, interdisciplinary, technology and global initiatives.