Ukraine reforms give jurist hope

Not everyone can witness the somewhat messy but thrilling process of democracy in the making, but Utah Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Michael Wilkins got a rare opportunity to do just that during two visits to Ukraine this year, one just shortly after that nation's historic "Orange Revolution."

That event produced two firsts for Ukraine: peaceful protests about a corrupt presidential election that were not met with government brutality and a new election ordered by the Ukrainian Supreme Court in January that put a reform-minded president in office.

Wilkins was speaking at seminars for Ukrainian judges about the American way of justice only two months later and heard from many Ukrainians about what this meant to them.

"It was kind of like being in Philadelphia in 1789," Wilkins said, referring to the year the United States' Constitution took effect. "The action taken by the Ukrainian Supreme Court was remarkably empowering to the Ukrainian people."

The Ukraine established itself as a nation independent of the former Soviet Union in 1991 and adopted a constitution of its own in 1996 that includes many elements similar to that of the American document.

Implementing these ideals, however, has not been easy in a country accustomed to decades of communist rule.

Wilkins and other U.S. legal experts were invited to address Ukrainian judges through an American Bar Association program titled the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI,) which is aimed at supporting legal reform efforts in a variety of countries.

During trips in March and July, Wilkins visited nine cities and spoke to an estimated 1,000 judges.

Most provocative were the question-and-answer periods. Often, the questions were similar from city to city. First, the judges wanted to know what Wilkins is paid. Then they wanted to know what he thought about the death penalty in the United States. Thirdly, what is this business of plea bargains?

Wilkins explained how judges in America usually serve as lawyers or law professors for some time before being chosen for the bench and although their salaries are large compared to those in Ukraine, the pay often is much less than an American attorney can make in private practice.