Good government and law

A clear commitment to the practices of good government by recipient countries is an important criterion for many aid donors, including Britain's Overseas Development Administration, in deciding how resources are allocated. An essential characteristic of good government is promotion of the rule of law.

The Council has traditionally played a key role in bringing together expertise from both the public and private sectors. It was in this context that the Council decided to organize an international seminar on the theme of good government and law, and asked Professor Julio Faundez of Warwick University to act as the seminar's director. The seminar was held at the Council's London headquarters 27-28 March, 1995. Its objective was to initiate a dialogue between practitioners in the field of legal technical assistance and law specialists in the private sector and in academic institutions.

The establishment of a viable democracy in developing countries and in countries of the former socialist bloc will depend on the existence of legal systems which protect individual rights and enable enterprise to flourish. Governments must also be capable of managing the complex transformation required for the liberalization of their national economies and of responding to the demands of their citizens so that potential is fully realised. This will not be easy to achieve, but the seminar and the papers which it is now publishing are a contribution to that goal.