Washington and Lee law professor Jim Moliterno was in the Republic of Georgia last week attending a forum on proposed legislation that would advance the independence of the judiciary. Proposals include life-tenure for judges and new selection procedures. In addition, he conducted a training workshop for the Ethics Commission and the Georgian Bar Association. Topics will include important, new cooperation between state prosecutors and defense lawyers and advanced ethics training for lawyers to follow the two years of more basic lawyer ethics training that he has designed, and amendments to the disciplinary procedures.
This week, Prof. Moliterno heads to Slovakia where he is consulting for the U.S. Embassy on judicial branch reforms and lawyer ethics in law schools. On October 2, he will present on judicial independence issues to a meeting of about 15 ambassadors and mission chiefs. Later that day, he will meet with business leaders to discuss the benefits of more advanced systems of lawyer ethics and judicial accountability. On October 3, he will participate in a forum on spreading legal ethics courses to several law schools in the country. And finally, on October 4, Moliterno will present to the Slovakian Judicial Academy on impartiality, independence, and ethics issues for judges in their dealings with media.
