ABA ROLI U.S. Shadowing Judge at American Bar Association

The U.S. Shadowing Judge will perform a six-month assignment based in the country of Georgia for a USAID-funded rule of law program. This USAID program aims to strengthen the rule of law in Georgia by building the independence and effectiveness of justice sector institutions, enhancing access to justice for all segments of society, and increasing citizen and institutional oversight of justice sector institutions.

While in Georgia, the U.S. judges will observe court hearings, trials and conferences conducted by Georgian judges handling civil/administrative cases and conduct meetings with Georgian judges. They will provide Georgian judges with important advice on case management, courtroom management, communication with parties and their attorneys, judicial ethics, matters of efficiency, and other related topics. The advice on general procedural matters will be retrospective: designed to avoid influencing the outcome of any specific procedures or cases, and the judges will not provide legal advice on any substantive matters or to hear any cases. The U.S. judge will be working only with civil and/or administrative judges; she/he will not be working with criminal judges.

Duties and Responsibilities

● Observing Georgian judges in the courtroom and providing them with verbal feedback on a rolling basis, based on her/his observations. The U.S. judge will observe and interact with multiple judges in each court during his/her assignment.

● Holding group discussions with judges in which she/he addresses areas of interest and topics of common concern. A list of some of the major areas of interest of Georgian judges will be provided in advance, but she/he may uncover other problematic areas or topics of interest through her/his one-on-one interactions with judges or court observations.

● Reporting to ABA ROLI and field-based program staff regarding results on a weekly basis and providing inputs for monthly and quarterly reports.

Skill and Educational Requirements

● At least 10 years of experience as a trial judge (open to either sitting or former judges).

● Previous experience traveling to or living overseas.

● Fluent in English; Georgian is not necessary because translation will be provided during the assignment.