CAROLA
Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the
Americas 
Georgetown University Law Center
Why CAROLA?
Ever since 1549, when the first Jesuit
priests voyaged to the New World, the Society of Jesus
has played an active role in Latin America. This has
been especially true in the field of education, where
Jesuits have created a constructive process of humanistic
education that has featured an international focus.
Hence, it is only natural that the Georgetown
University Law Center, the oldest Jesuit university
in the United States, should identify with this tradition.
The newly renamed Center for the Advancement of the
Rule of Law in the Americas (CAROLA) will seek to do
that by promoting a better understanding of the region's
laws and legal systems, as well as enhancing efforts
on the part of Latin Americans to use the rule of law
to help achieve economic development and social justice.
With its location in Washington, strong
faculty and diverse student body, as well as with the
upcoming completion of a new building dedicated to its
international and comparative law programs, the Law
Center stands poised to put together a top-quality program
focusing specifically on issues relating to the quality
and administration of justice in Latin America. A dedicated
corps of alumni/ae working in both the public and private
sectors throughout the hemisphere will serve as an additional
resource for this initiative.
Why a Rule of Law Focus?
Formerly known as LawCasa, CAROLA has
adopted as its leitmotif a preoccupation with the rule
of law as an instrument for bringing about progressive
change in Latin America. The types of law reform that
thoughtful observers from both within and without the
region have identified as being crucial include a climate
of legal stability that will encourage the formation
of private capital, transparency and integrity at all
levels of the process of law-making and law application,
respect for human rights, equal justice under law and
access to justice for all citizens.
For the past two decades, strengthening
the rule of law in Latin America has been a major goal
for international institutions such as the World Bank
and the Inter-American Development Bank, regional institutions
such as the Organization of American States, and numerous
private groups. The United States government has also
made a significant commitment to rule-of law projects
in the continent. Most Latin American nations have responded
positively to these various initiatives, which have
also sparked a vigorous debate about the proper definition
and role of the rule of law, as well as the efficacy
of the reforms that have been undertaken.
CAROLA seeks to contribute both by participating
in studies and projects that focus on improving the
administration of Latin American justice both qualitatively
and functionally and by contributing to ongoing critiques
of rule-of-law reform in Latin America.
A Mission for CAROLA
CAROLA will continue initiatives begun
under LawCasa. These include:
- working to recruit top students and young lawyers
for the Law Center's LL.M. program;
- developing opportunities for academics, judges
and lawyers from Latin America to visit the Law
Center to lecture, engage in research and meet with
faculty sharing common interests;
- developing opportunities for Law Center faculty
members to teach in Latin America;
- encouraging and assisting the activities of Law
Center student organizations such as La Alianza
del Derecho, Foreign Lawyers at Georgetown (FLAG),
and the International Law Society;
- helping Law Center students seek internships,
training and professional opportunities in Latin
American countries;
- bringing speakers from Latin America to the Law
Center to discuss contemporary legal, political
and economic issues.
CAROLA will encourage the development
of new courses and externships designed to give students
a general overview and practical insight into Latin
American issues. It will also help promote the Georgetown
International Summer Internship Program to provide Law
Center students with additional opportunities to work
with practicing lawyers in law firms, corporations,
and government organizations in Latin America. These
externships and international internships will give
students unique hands-on experience on both domestic
and international issues to help further their understanding
and appreciation of foreign legal systems.
The Georgetown Center for the Advancement
of the Rule of Law in the Americas plans to build on
the Law Center's strengths in areas such as alternative
dispute resolution, clinical legal education, comparative
constitutional law, comparative consumer protection
law, environment law, jurisprudence, immigration law,
international law, international trade, human rights
law, egal ethics and taxation to energize interest and
participation in efforts to promote the rule of law
in Latin America.
For more information, you are cordially
invited to contact Professor Joseph A. Page, Director,
at carola@law.georgetown.edu
Professor Page is the author of The
Brazilians ; Perón: A Biography ; and
The Revolution That Never Was: Northeast Brazil,
1955-1964 . He has also written numerous articles
and book reviews dealing with Latin American issues.
