2004 Programs and Events

Embassy and Lao P.D.R. Supreme Court Hold Joint Seminar (Sept. 3, 2004)

Speakers at the Lao People's Supreme Court Seminar.

The Lao People's Supreme Court and the U.S Department of Justice's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) jointly organized a three-day seminar on the Appeals Court Process at the Novotel Hotel September 1-3, 2004. This program was designed to help assist the Lao government in the ongoing development of its appeals court system.

The U.S. Department of Justice's OPDAT program is a judicial assistance program that conducts projects throughout the world in countries undertaking development of their justice systems.

This joint People's Supreme Court - OPDAT seminar marks the first cooperative effort between the OPDAT program and the Lao government, and represents an important milestone in Lao-U.S. cooperation in the area of the promotion of legal reform. More than 40 Lao officials from the People's Supreme Court, the Office of the Prosecutor General, and municipal and provincial courts attended the three-day seminar.

Among the speakers at the seminar were Judge J. Clifford Wallace, a U.S. District Court Judge with many years experience in the U.S. and international court systems, and Mr. Collins Fitzpatrick, a U.S. Court Executive and an authority on the U.S. appeals court process. Judge Davone Vangvichit, Vice President of the People's Supreme Court, and Ms. Kristen Bauer, Charge D'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy, provided opening remarks.