In May 2016, the Law and Development Institute will offer a weeklong certificate program that outlines the role of law, legal frameworks and institutions for economic development. The institute is affiliated with Emory Law, where the program lectures will be held, delivered by Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Professor Y. S. Lee. 

The United Nations has adopted the rule of law among the Sustainable Development Goals, which highlights its importance for economic development. The program’s goal is to fill a demand for experts who understand the impact of legal frameworks and institutions (LFIs) on economic development, Lee says.

The short-term training is aimed at government officials, professionals from international organizations and NGOs, lawyers, consultants and students.

The four-part lecture series and examination illustrates how legal frameworks and institutions affect economic development in areas such as property rights, business transactions and industrial promotion. Knowledge in law or development is helpful, but not required for enrollment, Lee says.

The certificate program will be available via recorded lectures and students will take the assessment online. 

The course structure is as follows:

Lecture 1: Importance of LFIs for Economic Development

Lecture 2: Property Rights and Economic Development

Lecture 3: Legal Framework for Business Transactions and Economic Development

Lecture 4: Law and Industrial Promotion

Following the lectures, students are required to pass a short assessment or an 5,000-to-8,000-word academic paper on a topic approved by the instructor.

The tuition fee is $3,000, but for a limited period, the LDI offers a scholarship of $1,500 per participant to support law and development studies; $1,500 plus a processing fee of $54.95 is payable upon registration (for both attendees and online participants).

All participants must register online. Early registration is recommended due to limited vacancies. In-depth information on each course is available at the registration page.

“The program was instructive that I saw some developing countries, including mine, to be following a specific economic model in a mechanical sense,” Jalalzai Maiwand 15L says of the certificate program. Maiwand is a former judge of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan and earned his LLM at Emory Law. “I came to know that economics has no room for clear-cut rules. Any economic policy should accommodate the changes in variables such as time, technology and geography.”

Program tuition includes class materials. Scholarships may be available for qualified students or participants from developing countries. The LDI accepts sponsorship, Lee says, and the institute also commits to match every payment of full tuition, either by a participant or a sponsor, and to educate one additional individual from a developing country for the certificate program.

Questions may be directed to the Law and Development Institute at info@lawanddevelopment.net. 

The Law and Development Institute (LDi) is a nonprofit, international academic network that seeks to find solutions to poverty issues around the world by clarifying the impact that law has on economic development. LDI will hold its next conference “Law and Development: From the Global South Perspectives,” Oct. 21-22, 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.