Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic and USAID Sign MOU

The Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a memorandum of understanding designed to improve the qualification examination process for defense advocates and notaries. The work will be conducted as part of the USAID “Support to the Kyrgyzstani Legal Defense Community Program,” which is being implemented by USAID’s partners, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), and the Advocates Training Center (ATC).

The qualification exam will be conducted by electronic testing and will include more than 1,000 questions, which will be randomly assigned to test takers. The results will be available immediately after the completion of the exam. With USAID support, ABA ROLI will provide computer equipment to the Ministry of Justice to conduct the qualification exam.  Access to the equipment and to the exam questions and answers will be restricted to personnel directly responsible for preparation and conduct of the exam.

“In recent years, many countries have converted their legal qualification exam programs to computer-based systems, which have built-in safeguards to ensure fairness and impartiality,” said Carey N. Gordon, USAID Representative to the Kyrgyz Republic.

ABA ROLI, in cooperation with ATC, will provide a pre-qualification exam pilot training course for prospective advocates and separate trainings for state notaries to improve their professional qualifications.

ABA ROLI is an international development program that promotes the rule of law and works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, and provides continuing legal education in more than 50 countries around the world.

This program is one of many assistance projects supported by the American people through USAID. For more information about USAID programs, please visit our web site at: http://centralasia.usaid.gov/kyrgyzstan.

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