WASHINGTON, July 15, 2022 — The American Bar Association has named the Honorable Stephen G. Breyer, the recently retired associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, as chair of its Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) board.
He will oversee the 20-member board and five regional councils that help guide the direction of ABA ROLI rule of law programs around the world. He will begin his role on Aug. 9 at the close of the 2022 ABA House of Delegates meeting in Chicago.
Justice Breyer’s appointment follows an extraordinary career as a public servant, a defender of the rule of law, a promoter of judicial independence and a friend to the ABA. He has been an ABA member since 1988 and has served as a special advisor to the ABA ROLI board. Justice Breyer was named the 2022 recipient of the ABA Medal, which he will accept at the ABA’s Annual Meeting in Chicago next month. He has had a long involvement with the association, speaking to ABA conferences, annual meetings and special events on numerous occasions where he recognized the ABA as a forum for the important exchange of legal ideas. As a judge on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in 1994, Justice Breyer was active in the Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice and was in line to become vice chair but had to withdraw when he was nominated to the Supreme Court.
For more than 30 years and in 130 countries, ABA ROLI has been promoting justice, economic opportunity and human dignity through the rule of law. Its international democracy, human rights and governance programs strengthen justice sectors, improve human rights and access to justice, mitigate conflict and ensure inclusive and sustainable development globally. ABA ROLI’s current portfolio includes work in more than 50 countries with a mix of humanitarian assistance, justice system development and advocacy. ABA ROLI is one of the founding implementers of rule of law programming and brings to bear the best of the American legal system to solve difficult rule of law challenges around the world.
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.