Week One: New to NCSC
This summer I will be working in the Arlington office of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) in their International Program Division! NCSC provides technical assistance, training and technology to enhance systems, empower systems, and engage citizens around the world. They work in over thirty counties on a variety of rule of law projects. As of Monday, I am the newest worker and have hit the ground running!
I have been working on a few assignments for multiple projects in my first week. I started with a research assignment for a memorandum to provide comparative information to the Ministry of Justice for Morocco. This research focused on how the performance of judges, prosecutors, and courts are evaluated and publicized in order to make decisions on how to organize judicial evaluations under the newly appointed Judicial Council of Morocco. I researched data about multiple countries and US states, including Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, California, and Maryland in order to compare their different practices.
My second project focused on the prosecution of judicial corruption in Ghana. I was specifically looking for quantitative data on the prosecution and adjudication of corruption cases. This information will go toward a research project on judicial integrity and how it is handled in their criminal justice system.
Finally, I have been analyzing and updating information on the Bangladesh Justice for All Program. This project includes an extensive, multi-year survey of citizens in thirteen districts of Bangladesh. I have learned a lot about common disputes in the localities, how they are handled, and the perception of legal aid services.
Although just my first week, I have learned a ton of information about different countries and how rule of law works in specific regions of the world. Next week I'm sure I will have the opportunity to continue work on many of these projects and future opportunities.
On a more personal note, next week I hope to explore more of D.C. and get settled into my summer accomodations. Don't worry, next week I'll have more exciting pictures to post!
