Ukrainian delegates visit Indianapolis, observe legal system

Six delegates from the Ukraine’s legal community will be in Indianapolis through Saturday to learn about the American legal system by observing court hearings and meeting with members of the legal community, as well as participating in cultural activities.

The Open World Leadership Center is funding the visit, and the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium, a group of legal communities that seeks to build legal institutions by hosting delegations from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics who study various facets of the U.S. legal system, is administering the visit.

The Indiana Attorney General’s Office is hosting the delegates, and delegates will be staying with volunteers in their homes.

Delegates will be able to observe the legal system first hand, including oral arguments at the Indiana Supreme Court, and visits to the Indianapolis Legal Aid Society, the Marion Superior Court, the Indianapolis Bar Association and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s Arrestee Processing Center.

In addition to visits to courts and legal organizations, members of the Attorney General’s staff, including Solicitor General Thomas M. Fisher; Chief Deputy Attorney General Gary Secrest; and Deputy Attorney General Abigail Kuzma, chief counsel of the Consumer Protection Division; and congressional staff from the offices of both U.S. Senator Richard Lugar and Congressman Steve Buyer will meet with the delegates. Delegates will also meet with Indiana senators.

The Open World program, founded by Congress in 1999, will also fund cultural experiences for the delegates, including visits to the Indiana State Museum, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, an Indiana Ice hockey game, the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway, and other cultural attractions in Indianapolis.

A more in-depth look at this visit will be in the Oct. 27, 2010, edition of Indiana Lawyer.