09.07.2007
The ABA Rule of Law Initiative has had the opportunity to host two international volunteer lawyers as interns during summer 2007 as part of its first participation in the ABA ROLI International Volunteer Internship Program. Caroline Riss, an attorney from the U.S. state of Minnesota, and Oleksandr Shvayun, an attorney from Ukraine who is completing advanced legal studies in Venice, Italy, began interning May. Both volunteer lawyers came with a good deal of experience in the areas of rule of law and human rights, having completed legal studies, other internships and previous work experiences.
These volunteer lawyers have assisted the office with research, writing, editing, workshop/roundtable planning and project implementation in a wide range of programs, including anti-corruption, legal education reform, institution-building, counter-human trafficking, criminal law reform and the development of a monitoring and evaluation system for ABA ROLI programs. Neither volunteer attorney received any form of compensation or financial assistance as part of this internship and were completely self-funded. Oleksandr will be completing his internship in mid-September and returning to Venice to defend his Master’s thesis on European Law, whereas Caroline will continue her internship through early December and then return to the United States to pursue fellowship opportunities in the field of international development and refugee law.