Monica Fennell, the Indianapolis-based pro bono director of Taft, was recently selected by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to receive a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to the Republic of Maldives. Ms. Fennell will lecture at Maldives National University and work with the Bar Council of the Maldives to create a pro bono clearinghouse. The Center for Pro Bono Exchange is happy to share this recent post from Ms. Fennell describing her experience thus far in the Maldives.
March 04, 2022
It's As Beautiful as You Think
Monica Fennell
When I travel, I like to see the courts and legislatures and talk to lawyers and judges—I’m a total geek about legal tourism. I’ve been in the Maldives as a Fulbright Scholar for four weeks and have seen several courts from the outside—the Supreme Court of the Maldives, the High Court of the Republic of the Maldives, a family court in Malé, and a court in Villingilli. And I hope to actually go inside when Covid improves.
I’ve spent most of my time teaching law classes at Maldives National University at the main campus in Malé, the densely populated capital city of the Maldives’ coral-reef-ringed islands and atolls. My husband and I live in an apartment on the island of Hulhumalé, filled with the constant hum of seaplanes, waves, tropical birds and insects. It is an island—created by pumping sand from the sea floor--that is connected to Malé by a causeway bridge over the Indian Ocean. We live on Phase 1 of the island, and we can watch as apartments and other buildings go up on Phase 2, joined to Phase 1 by small bridges over a lagoon.
The law faculty at Maldives National University are very collegial, and I am gradually learning about access to justice issues here. Not only have the law professors shared their classes and their knowledge with me, they have invited me to traditional Maldivian lunch in the faculty lounge and Maldivian dinner on Phase 2. My commute on a double-decker bus is filled with bright equatorial light glinting off the Indian Ocean, and my arrival at the university buildings is fringed by coconut palm trees and construction traffic in this constantly evolving place.
Most of the law students have jobs and work during the day, so many of the MNU law classes are taught at night. The students ask great questions, especially when there seem to be aspects of the U.S. legal system that I am describing that are different than the Maldivian legal system, which helps me learn too. As with many schools during the pandemic, the classes are a mix of remote and in-person, depending upon how many students can join in person and how many need to join remotely due to Covid isolation or quarantine. So far I have taught an alternative dispute resolution class, a workshop on strategies for studying law, a constitutional law class, and a law faculty workshop on teaching strategies. Access to justice topics will be addressed more fully later in the semester, though they always come up when I teach.
I have also met with the Bar Council of the Maldives about their creation of a pro bono clearinghouse. My first meeting with the ABA Rule of Law Initiative staff person working with the Bar Council was by motorbike ride that wound through the streets of Malé. This dedicated group of Bar Council members is addressing the justice gap and strategizing to increase volunteerism. The pro bono clearinghouse will match pro bono clients with lawyer volunteers and utilize law student help. People with civil and criminal issues will be eligible for this free legal assistance.
I hope to continue these collaborations when I return to Taft—which has been incredibly supportive of this opportunity for global exchange through the Fulbright Scholar program. So when my stay here ends, I hope that that is not the end of my partnership with the legal community in the Maldives.
*Neither the government of the United States nor any agency representing it has endorsed the conclusions or approved the contents of this publication.