From July 29 to August 3, the USAID Rule of Law Program (“the Program”), working with the Pravo-Justice Project Ukraine, supported Ilia State University (IliaUni) deliver its “Summer School on Rule of Law, Justice, and Human Rights.” The Summer School brought students from Georgia and other Eastern Partnership countries together to attend workshops and lectures covering such topics as justice reform in transitional democracies, the crisis of the rule of law, and the right to a fair trial. Twenty-two law students, including five from Ukraine attended the school, all of them having been selected through a competitive process. The students came from Ilia Uni, Tbilisi State University, Free University, Black Sea University, King's College London, and IE University Spain.

The notables teaching at the Summer School included Giorgi Papuashvili, the former Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Georgia and current Dean of IliaUni Law School, Konstantine Vardzelashvili, former First Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Georgia, and Nona Tsotsoria, former Judge at the European Court of Human Rights.  In addition to providing financial support, the Program provided two international experts, Ellen and Douglas Fair, retired judges from Snohomish County, Washington State.  The experts delivered lectures on topics such as, "Resilience of Democratic Institutions in Times of Crisis" and "Right to a Fair Trial and Procedural Guarantees." Other international contributors included Lena Morton, Resident Legal Advisor, Department of Justice, US Embassy in Georgia, as well as Olha Sribniak, and Ana Adamska, both from “Pravo-Justice” Project Ukraine.

The Summer School on Rule of Law, Justice, and Human Rights gave future lawyers theoretical knowledge and practical skills that will help them contribute to the development of democratic institutions and the rule of law in the region.