Editorial
Front Page - Friday, March 5, 2010
Department of State program attracts Albanian delegates
David Laprad
Delegates from Albania in February visited Chattanooga under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Titled “Building Trust in Public Institutions,” the program allowed the delegates to explore ways to increase government transparency and accountability. They are pictured here with their U.S. hosts.
- David Laprad
Less than two decades ago, the citizens of Albania were locked inside their borders, a communist dictatorship curtailing their interaction with the outside world and denying Albanians certain things Americans take for granted, such as the right to counsel.
Less than two weeks ago, seven Albanian citizens sat in
a conference room in Chatta-nooga with a pair of Tennessee lawyers and participated in
a 60-minute roundtable dis-
cussion that included the impromptu topic of attorney representation.
A democratic parliament now governs their country, their economy is growing and they’ve improved ties with the rest of the world, but they’re still curious about how people in other countries do things.
“The communist regime in Albania was one of the most extreme,” said Blerta Selenica, a member of the delegation. “As the only political party, it pretended to have the mandate of the people when it took action. The idea behind no attorneys was that the state did a good job of defending people, so lawyers weren’t necessary. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Albania became a pluralist county and the services of attorneys became effective again.”
The delegates were on American soil under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, which the World Learning Visitor Exchange Program administers. The group consisted of seven representatives of non-governmental organizations involved in programs promoting more accountability in public service. For example, the delegation included the project director for Transparency International, the project coordinator for the Institute for Development and Research Alternatives and a journalist for Fox News.
The DOS implemented the program, titled “Building Trust in Public Institutions,” to allow delegates from other countries to explore developments in participatory government in the U.S., examine efforts to combat corruption and promote ethics in government, learn how training programs for civil service and public administration employees are applied and explore ways to increase government transparency and accountability.
Before arriving in Chattanooga, the delegates had been to four other cities, including Washington, D.C., New York, Pittsburg and Portland. At each location except New York, which was strictly for pleasure, they had seen the sights and delved into a variety of relevant topics. On the agenda for Chattanooga were lunch at 212 Market Restaurant, a cruise on the Tennessee River and discussions on urban revitalization, partnerships between public and private entities, taking disciplinary action in response to corruption and more.
The delegation began Feb. 22, its first day in Chattanooga, at the Development Resource Center, where they discussed transparent urban design and goal-setting for climate protection at the community level with representatives of the German Marshall Fund and the Chattanooga Green Committee.
The visit with the lawyers took place later that morning. On the American side of table were Ira Long, attorney at Weill & Long and president-elect of the Chattanooga Bar Association; and Patricia Vital, attorney at Vital Law Office and arbitrator and mediator for Vital Dispute Resolution Services. Also present were Lynda Hood, executive director of the Bar, and Jim Frierson, member of the Green Committee the host for the Albanians in Chattanooga. The seven delegates and two interpreters sat across from them.
Vital launched the roundtable with an explanation of the processes of arbitration and mediation. Long chimed in with a brief history of dispute resolution, describing how in recent years more and more disputes have moved from the courts to arbitration.
The roundtable took on an organic nature almost immediately, with the conversation about dispute resolution transforming into a discussion on transparency in government. Long took advantage of the change in direction to talk about how Americans are able to take part in public hearings about proposed zoning changes. The delegates then heard how complex issues in the U.S. can become when Frierson mentioned that elected officials sometimes override the recommendations of others when rezoning a region and that corporations with deep pockets sometimes politicize the process.
Returning to the agenda, Long brought up the availability of data to the public through the Freedom of Information Act. “It’s a wonderful law because the government knows much more than the general public,” he said. When one of the delegates asked about whether or not the public dissemination of information could hurt a company, Long said yes, but that Congress has decided transparency is more important because the government works for its citizens, not private companies.
When a delegate asked how the Freedom of Information Act could be applied to the judicial system, Long said it gives the defendant or plaintiff a tool that could help their case.
At this point, the roundtable branched off into discussions about the credibility of the judiciary, the availability of legal aid, the simplification of judicial processes and issues surrounding child custody.
The latter topic arose suddenly late in the hour and occupied the remainder of the meeting. “We’ve heard that the legal system sometimes takes children away from their mom and dad,” one delegate said through her interpreter. “Do you think it’s going too far when a judge decides such things?”
“That’s only done in extreme circumstances, when abuse or drugs are involved,” Long said.
Another delegate then explained that in Albania, family is “sacrosanct” and children are never taken away from their parents.
The exchange highlighted the differences between the two cultures represented at the table and gave those on both sides a better understanding of why things are done differently in the other country.
Following the departure of the delegates, the American participants said they enjoyed the discussion and felt energized by their participation. “That was fascinating,” Hood said.
That afternoon, the delegates met with Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge W. Neil Thompson III to review the methods by which the court adopts technologies to promote transparency and efficiency. The following day, the group visited with other businesses and organizations, discussing a range of topics, before moving on to Miami on Feb. 24.
Without a doubt, each stop gave the delegates plenty of seeds for discussion to carry back to Albania. And in Chattanooga, they certainly returned the favor, enriching the people they met by introducing them to their ways of doing things.
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