PILPG Update
10 August 2005
PILPG Team Provides On the Ground Assistance With Drafting Iraqi Constitution
Recently, a five person PILPG team returned from Iraq. The team was invited by the Chair of the Constitution Drafting Committee to provide technical legal assistance with drafting the new Iraqi constitution. The team spent several weeks in Iraq and was called upon to provide legal and other expert assistance with matters ranging from state structure and electoral systems to resource allocation and the protection of human and minority rights.
Paul Williams, Vladimir Matic, and Vanessa Jimenez were based in Baghdad, Carole O'Leary was based in Kurdistan, and Yoonie Kim, Jason Crosby, and Sally Elshihabi provided assistance from Washington. The team was also able to call upon the pro bono support of a number of major international law firms.
Paul Williams was recently interviewed on the key elements of the Constitution by the BBC's "The World" Program (www.theworld.org).
The interview can be accessed at: http://audio.theworld.org/wma.php?id=08095 ; "Drafting Iraq's Constitution"
About the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG)
The Public International Law & Policy Group is a non-profit organization that operates as a global pro bono law firm providing free legal assistance to developing states and states in transition involved in conflicts.
PILPG was founded with the support of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and is a UN-designated Non-Governmental Organization. PILPG receives funding from a number of sources, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, United States Institute of Peace, the Ploughshares Fund, and the Compton Foundation.
The Managing Board of PILPG includes
Paul Williams - Executive Director,
Michael Scharf - Managing Director,
James Hooper - Managing Director,
Iraq Program Website
