Developing the rule of law in the Ukraine

Abstract

Most western observers anticipated that the newly independent Ukraine would rapidly developinto an open, democratic society based on a free market economy and the rule of law. Ten years later it isclear that, while some important progress has been made, the expectations of a quick and easy transitionto western style democracy have not generally been met.USAID has been providing assistance to the development of the rule of law since 1993. The following report summarizes these and other efforts to support legal and judicial reform inUkraine and seeks to provide some lessons learned to be applied in the design of future programs.