The five-day course, called “Toward a Rule of Law Culture: Exploring Effective Responses to Justice and Security Challenges,” is designed for criminal justice authorities, including senior judges, prosecutors, police officers and prison officials, as well as for defense lawyers, members of oversight bodies and other civil society representatives. Yidi was among almost 70 mid-and senior-level officials and civic activists from 17 countries across the Middle East and Africa who took one of the four pilot courses in the past year at the newly established International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law in Malta. 

"Creating a strong rule of law takes time, because changing deeply rooted attitudes and behavior takes time." – Leanne McKay, USIP senior program officer

The resource guide, published in English, Arabic and French, can be used for a variety of individuals and groups and articulates an approach to promoting rule of law that can be applied in various justice and security initiatives. The rule of law culture course reaches deeper than the typical topics covered in rule of law training for transitioning countries, which most often focus on technical reforms, law enforcement tactics, revisions of rules and regulations or organizational overhauls. Instead, participants explore the roots of crime and violent conflict, including extremism, and “holistic, adaptive, systematic and people-centric” solutions, according to USIP Senior Program Officer Leanne McKay, who developed the course, taught the pilots with colleagues, and authored the accompanying guide. 

The course is multidisciplinary and participatory, with a balance of theory and practice conveyed through case studies, games, videos, role playing and other techniques. Trainers use guided questions to encourage an exchange of knowledge among the participants rather than a one-way conveyor belt feeding them information. Participants learn from each other’s experiences and, by the end of the course, develop an action plan to accomplish some type of change in their own institutions when they return home.

“This training bridged the gap between theory and practice,” one participant said, according to an independent evaluation of the program. “A lot of times this bridge does not exist in trainings.”

Feedback from Citizens and Suspects

Yidi saw the effect of his action plan in feedback from citizens and suspects. He said they told him, “We didn't know police could behave like this – if they all did, we would not have problems like this in Nigeria.”

“My officers realized that acting with integrity and professionalism doesn't stop them from doing their work,” Yidi said in a follow-up interview for the evaluation. 

Yidi had persuaded his supervisor to let him conduct a pilot that would emphasize integrity and professionalism in policing. He began giving monthly lectures for his staff on behavior with the public and with suspects and how abuse of authority and, conversely, respect impacts the effectiveness of their work. He asks suspects how they are being treated and if he hears reports of abuse, he talks to the offending officer. “They feel ashamed,” he says of the officers.

Many police officers “have a superiority syndrome,” he said. “It takes time to change the mindsets.”

A culture that supports rule of law requires the equal involvement of state and society, McKay says. The approach also must factor in what she refers to as “the 3Ps” – people, power and politics. Yidi applied that approach, in part by focusing on the 'people' component of the 3Ps as he mentored and supported his officers based on their needs and those of the public, she said. 

"Creating a strong rule of law takes time, because changing deeply rooted attitudes and behavior takes time," she said in the guide.

Introducing New Ideas

A course participant from Lebanon used techniques he learned to improve his design of an independent and specialized judicial inspection service, and the new body’s recommendations are starting to filter into the system. An official from Tunisia is piloting a communications strategy to bridge differences between local security forces and their publics.

“The course enhanced participants’ knowledge, changed individual perceptions, and encouraged individual efforts to promote a [rule of law] culture,” according to the evaluation. “For some, the course introduced new ideas and tools, provided fresh perspectives, and reinforced existing knowledge. For others, it was a genuinely transformative experience leading to changes in mind-sets and shifts in consciousness, which led to tangible actions and changes in their everyday work.”

Still, the degree to which learning from the course could be applied once participants returned home depended on factors such as the extent to which they truly absorbed the fundamental messages, their authority within their institutions and communities and the broader political and systemic conditions, the evaluation found.

Among the most valuable elements of the course was the opportunity to compare experiences with others from different countries and sectors.

“We start thinking…can I use their method to change and develop my system?,” one participant said. “Is it suitable for my context?” Other participants opined that it was “an eye-opener because the course provided a worldview and challenged me to do more than what I am already doing.”

Participants said the role playing in the course helped them better understand varying perspectives.

One official who took the course commented, “I realized that in Nigeria we just implement laws without understanding the people.”

Viola Gienger is a senior editor and writer at USIP.