INPROL BLOG: An Introduction to Rule of Law Topics - Core Skills for Rule of Law Practitioners Part 1
An Introduction to Rule of Law Topics - Core Skills for Rule of Law Practitioners Part 1
INPROL's Introductions Series highlights a general rule of law topic or a specific topic from INPROL's Digital Library of relevance for rule of law promotion.
INPROL Practitioner Seminar on Applied Research. Kabul, Afghanistan. July 2016.
Rule of Law work requires an array of nonlegal skills - but some of these critical abilities may not be developed during formal education processes.
This topic, Core Skills for Practitioners, provides key resources on a variety of nonlegal skills that effective practitioners employ during their work in developing or postconflict countries. The topic is broken down into subtopics, and the Digital Library contains links to resources on each of them. Some are presented below, and the rest in a part 2 to this blog.
The first three subtopics relate to project management. Many rule of law practitioners are required to manage rule of law assistance projects, often without a background in project management.
Other subtopics relate to different functions that rule of law practitioners assume responsibility for when working with national counterparts (e.g., police, judges, and civil society) or structures (e.g., courts, prisons, and customary justice systems) in developing or postconflict countries.
Rule of law practitioners, when tasked with overseeing rule of law initiatives in-country, are often required to cultivate project management skills. Project management has its own body of knowledge and skills. Mastering this field for the rule of law practitioner involves a steep learning curve.
Project design occurs after an assessment has been conducted. In the project-design phase, the scope and content of a project or program are determined. A project plan is the net output of this phase.
Rule of law assistance strives to have a measurable and sustainable impact. To achieve this, appropriate objectives need to be developed, and a system of monitoring and evaluation implemented. Planning for monitoring and evaluation should occur at the project design phase, as should the process of gathering baseline data to ascertain the situation before the project begins (e.g., if the project aims to reduce crime, baseline data about crime rates must be collected before the project begins).
"Monitoring" is an ongoing process of assessing the impact of a project and whether it is meeting its objectives. This process generates information to inform decisions about a project while it is being implemented. It starts early in the project and continues frequently throughout its life cycle. "Evaluation" is a multipart event and is usually undertaken (by outside, independent evaluators) midway through a project, upon completion of the project, and after completion.
There are various means and methods to monitor and evaluate a project (e.g., logical framework analysis, results-based management). Generally, however, monitoring and evaluation frameworks set out project goals at a high level (e.g., supergoal, goal, and purpose) and at a lower level (e.g., outcomes). These goals are then linked to activities conducted under the rubric of the project. These objectives are measured under the process of monitoring and evaluation through the use of "indicators," which are the measures used to ascertain if change has occurred (e.g., a 20 percent reduction in crime as an indicator of a safer environment in a postconflict state). An indicator is accompanied by a "means of verification," which provides the method for seeing if the indicator was achieved (e.g., the use of crime statistics for measuring the 20 percent reduction in crime).
INPROL Practitioner Seminar on Applied Research. Kabul, Afghanistan. July 2016.
Facilitating Dialogue and Convening
Many rule of law practitioners find themselves adopting the role of a facilitator or convener in the course of their work.
Facilitation refers to:
"the process or set of skills by which a third party attempts to help the disputants move toward resolution of their dispute. Facilitation can operate at many levels, from providing good offices to a more active role as a mediator. It may mean helping the parties set ground rules and agendas for meetings, helping with communication between the parties, and analysis of the situation and possible outcomes--in general, helping the participants keep on track and working toward their mutual goals. It may also mean helping them set those goals." -United States Institute of Peace, Peace Terms: Glossary of Terms for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding
Dialogue refers to:
"a conversation or exchange of ideas that seeks mutual understanding through the sharing of perspectives. Dialogue is a process for learning about another group's beliefs, feelings, interests, and needs in a nonadversarial, open way, usually with the help of a third-party facilitator. Facilitated dialogue is a face-to-face process, often among elites. It takes place at a meeting site, whereas other third-party assisted processes may occur indirectly or by means of proximity talks." -US Institute of Peace, Peace Terms: Glossary of Terms for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding
To be done well, facilitation and convening require expert knowledge and experience on means, methods, and approaches to such processes.
In postconflict and developing countries, international rule of law practitioners are often deployed in a mentoring role. For example, in some postconflict environments, UN police have the mandate to "monitor, mentor, and advise" local counterparts. Some practitioners are sent as "advisors," but part of their role is often mentoring (e.g., as a ministerial or prosecutorial advisor). In other cases, mentoring is more dynamic and informal, occurring as a by-product of interactions between colleagues on rule of law reform issues. Mentoring can occur not only between an international assistance provider and a national counterpart, but also between national, and even international, counterparts.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) defines mentoring as a:
"process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development; mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience and a person who is perceived to have less." -UNDP, Capacity Development: A UNDP Primer
Justice system monitoring is a regular part of rule of law work. Monitoring provides practitioners and policymakers with a picture of the way a system is or is not working.
"Monitoring of the legal system is aimed at identifying widespread patterns or trends in violations of international standards and the systematic issues that hinder compliance in order to support effective reform initiatives. To assess compliance with the international human rights and relevant standards it is necessary to analyze the domestic law and daily practice in cases." -Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rule-of-Law Tools for Postconflict States: Monitoring Legal Systems
To learn more, visit INPROL's Digital Library section on "Core Skills for Rule of Law Practitioners" which contains links to articles, reports and books on Core Skills for Rule of Law Practitioners. Access to INPROL's Digital Library is available for INPROL members. To become a member sign up at www.inprol.org.
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