For Immediate Release
- Contact:
- Herbert J. Hansell, Jones Day, 202-879-3986
R. Michael Gadbaw, Georgetown Law Center, 301-502-8769
John Frisbie, US-China Business Council, 202-429-0340
New China Rule of Law Grants Announced by the US-China Legal Cooperation Fund
Washington, DC, January 20, 2010 -- The most recent round of projects supported by the US-China Legal Cooperation Fund illustrates the range of topics that American and Chinese institutions are jointly addressing in the broadening field of China's legal development. The projects focus on mediation training, civil and human rights law, AIDS-related legal protections, and mental disability assessments in criminal proceedings.
The US-China Legal Cooperation Fund, an initiative financed by leading US companies engaged in trade and investment with the People's Republic of China, has awarded more than $1 million in grants since 1999. A hallmark of the fund's grantmaking is that each project is jointly implemented by American and Chinese partners. To date, 57 US and 47 PRC institutions have cooperated on projects that received support from the fund.
The fund's Board of Trustees, co-chaired by Herbert J. Hansell of the law firm Jones Day and R. Michael Gadbaw of Georgetown Law Center, announced awards to the following projects from a pool of applicants at the fund's recent grant-selection meeting:
- Researching and disseminating a background paper that compares mental disability assessment procedures used in the United States and other countries, for use by PRC judges, scholars, and policymakers, developed by the Rights Practice and China University of Politics and Law.
- Printing and distributing a model legal rights curriculum for AIDS-affected communities in China, sponsored by Asia Catalyst and the Korekata AIDS Law Center.
- Supporting a conference that focuses on areas of law that affect human and civil rights, convened by the National Committee on US-China Relations and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development.
- Developing an "off-the-shelf" law school-level mediation course and training Chinese law professors and faculty at China's National Judicial College in how to use the course materials, sponsored by Pepperdine University School of Law and the Beijing Arbitration Commission.
The US-China Legal Cooperation Fund solicits project proposals from American and Chinese partners that plan cooperative efforts to develop and improve the rule of law in China.
Recent financial contributors to the fund include:
GE Foundation; The Boeing Company; ExxonMobil Corporation; Motorola, Inc.; Cargill, Incorporated; Dewey & LeBoeuf; FedEx Express; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP; Mary Kay Inc.; and Jones Day.
The US-China Legal Cooperation Fund is a program of the China Business Forum (501/c/3), the education and research arm of the US-China Business Council (501/c/6). Further information about the fund and its grants program is available on its website (http://www.uschinalegalcoop.org/).