Week Two

The second week of my internship at NCSC's International Programs Division flew by. It was a short week due to Memorial Day, but that didn't mean there was a lack of work to be on projects!

My work this week focused on learning more about what a rule of law initiative is and diving deeper into the organization's active and closing projects. To start the week off, I met the team in North Macedonia that has been working with the organization on strengthening legal writing education and the local bar association in the country. Everyone was extremely passionate about building up a strong and stable legal education to support justice systems in the region, and I compared their system with the courses we take at William & Mary, such as Legal Writing & Research, Civil Procedure, and Criminal Law. As a 1L, I took for granted having access to classes like these, and I can't imagine not having classes such as these. As expected, this program was canceled by the State Department this past Spring, so there was a feeling of incompleteness in these meetings, with NCSC looking at options to turn their work over to partners in the region to continue the effort. 

Another project that I worked on was an initiative in Morocco to support the country's alternative to incarceration law that was recently passed. The law gives the judicial system other options besides incarceration to address prison overpopulation and improve rehabilitation efforts for offenders. These options include community service and other actions that have a social benefit, electronic monitoring, and even daily fines. I was impressed with this effort by Morocco to move away from their traditional system of incarceration and towards a more modern institution. Theoretically, this law will also change public perception of offenders for the better. However, the project also addresses the shortfalls of the justice system at large and the resources/support it will need to reach the goals of the law. The challenging part for the Moroccan justice system has just begun, but I'm excited to continue tracking the country's progress.

I also began researching terrorism in the Philippines, which is turning out to be a more daunting task than I expected. Stay tuned for next week's blog to hear more!