Canadian project supports legal reform in Ukraine (05/19/96)

Canadian project supports legal reform in Ukraine

by Marta Dyczok

KYIV - "The new emphasis of Canada's technical cooperation with Ukraine is not project completion but long- term results," said Emil Baran, head of the Technical Assistance section of Canada's Embassy in Ukraine. The CIDA-sponsored program on "Legal Training and Curriculum Development" seems to fit this bill perfectly. The project trains Ukrainian law professors in Canada's leading law schools for a full academic year with the aim of exposing them to new teaching methods and analytical approaches to law that will then be introduced in Ukraine.

Prof. Walter Mis of Alberta University's law faculty, who oversees the program on the Canadian side, was in Ukraine last week to interview candidates for the coming academic year. Out of a short list of 26, eight will be selected to study at the University of Alberta, York University and McGill University. "This is a particularly nice project since it will provide large dividends for Ukraine and is an effective use of resources," he said while in Kyiv. "By teaching the teachers we produce a core group of people who will have an immediate impact upon their return by forming the nucleus professorate at the Center for Legal Studies and teaching new courses."

The Center of Legal Studies at Taras Shevchenko University in Kyiv is the first new law school to open in Ukraine. Set up by the Ukrainian Legal Foundation last year, it aims to break with old traditions and introduce Western standards to the teaching of law in Ukraine. Halyna Freeland, the executive director of the ULF and one of the main motors behind creating the new law school, was instrumental in getting Canadian support through CIDA. "This Canadian program will have a much more in-depth and longer term impact on the reform of law in Ukraine than other projects," she said. Ms. Freeland is convinced that reform-minded Ukrainian law professors need to spend a full academic year abroad to gain the necessary skills to introduce change. The three-year project will train 18 Ukrainian law professors. Before being accepted for the program, potential candidates are required to make a commitment to teach in Ukraine.

In addition to the $1.5 million (Canadian) contributed by CIDA, the Canadian law schools participating are making an additional $1.25 million contribution in kind. One aspect of this is the time put in by Canadian law professors to make the project a success. Prof. Mis, a 24-year veteran of the University of Alberta law faculty, became involved in the project a year and a half ago, after hearing from colleagues at his university working on health projects in Ukraine. "It was partially my Ukrainian background and partially the realization that they needed help," said Prof. Mis when asked why he chose to give his time. During his first trip to Kyiv he said he found that he was learning not only about the process of legal reform in Ukraine, but also getting a new perspective on the principles of law of Canada.

It seems that Canada has a lot to offer Ukraine in this area both because of its expertise in fields such as comparative constitutional law, human rights law, civil and commercial law, and also because Canada is perceived as a non-threatening type of country by Ukrainians. The large Ukrainian community in Canada enhances communication between the two countries. In addition to the time the Ukrainian professors spend in the classroom, they are also offered a practical component. Last year's trainees spent time working with Alberta's Ministry of Justice and in private Canadian law firms. Ievdokhia Streltsova from Odessa worked in a maritime law firm in Montreal after completing her course work.

The real test of the success of this program will come in a few years, once the new curriculum is in place and the Center for Legal Studies produces graduates. If the selection process for participants is truly fair and open, and if the Ukrainian law professors honor their commitment to use the knowledge they gain during their time in Canada to reform law schools in Ukraine, the program could have significant long-term results for the legal profession in Ukraine.

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