Arent Fox partner Robert C. O’Brien, co-chair of the US Department of State’s Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, spoke at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Thursday, March 20 to discuss the Partnership’s continuing efforts to strengthen Afghanistan’s judicial system.

The panel discussion, organized by the United States Mission to the United Nations, opened with remarks by Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to the United Nations and Zahir Tanin, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations. Joining Mr. O’Brien on the panel were:

• Ambassador Thomas A. Schweich, US Coordinator for Counternarcotics and Justice Reform in Afghanistan and co-chair of the public-private justice reform partnership
• Joan D. Winship, Executive Director, International Association of Women Judges
• Hon. Stephen G. Larson, US District Judge for the Central District of California

Mr. O’Brien recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan where he met with the Chief Justice of the Afghanistan Supreme Court Abdul Salam Azimi; Afghanistan’s Attorney General Abdul Jabbar Sabit; the executive director of the Legal Aid Organization of Afghanistan; members of the Afghan Prosecutors Association; and other officials to discuss how the public-private partnership could best assist in building and improving that nation’s civil and criminal judicial system. He was joined on the mission by Hon. David O. Carter, US District Judge for the Central District of California, and Tim Nusraty of the US State Department. Mr. O’Brien will report his findings during the panel discussion.

The Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan is a joint initiative by the US State Department and America’s legal community to assist in the development of the rule of law in Afghanistan. The partnership allows law firms to demonstrate their commitment to improving the justice system in Afghanistan by funding projects that promote women’s rights, access to justice, legal aid, professional development, and other important justice-related activities.

The Partnership has already committed to funding the training of over a dozen Afghan prosecutors at the University of Utah School of Law in June.

The partnership was officially launched on December 13, 2007 at a ceremony hosted by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held at the State Department in Washington, DC. In addition to Secretary Rice, the ceremony was attended by Mr. O’Brien, Ambassador Schweich and Afghan Attorney General Sabit.

Photograph of Robert C. O’Brien (r.) and US District Court for the Central District of California Judge David O. Carter (l.) in Kabul, Afghanistan, February 2008.

Photograph of O’Brien (l.), Afghan Attorney General Abdul Jabbar Sabit (center) and US District Court Judge Carter.