1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

Story by Spc. Mike MacLeod

RAMADI, Iraq – A judge advocate from the U.S. Army's advise and assist brigade for Iraq's Al Anbar province joined with Provincial Reconstruction Team members to conduct a series of meetings in October with provincial judges to discuss the way ahead for the U.S.-Iraqi partnership and rule of law issues as U.S. combat forces draw down over the next year.

Maj. Steve Berlin, judge advocate for 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), met with the provincial chief judge, Mohamed Al Kubaysi, along with the chief judge of the appellate court, two judges of the criminal panel, the chief prosecutor for Anbar, and Ramadi investigative judges to assist PRT attorneys in their ongoing efforts to bridge the gap between a professional, self-sustaining judiciary and budding law-enforcement agencies.

"I serve as the conduit, translating what cops do up to the courts, making sure the AAB's police trainers understand evidentiary procedures and making sure they understand what Iraqi courts demand," said Berlin.

A judge might like to see certain types of training for Iraqi security forces because he is seeing deficiencies in an area, he said. He takes that back to trainers at the Provincial Government Center and the AAB.

"Our goal is to go from a simple investigation, to developing a warrant, to successfully prosecuting criminals."

One Iraqi judge, who had toured the U.S. as part of a judicial outreach, said he would like to see Iraqi emergency services respond as he had seen American agencies do for a simple traffic accident.

"I was impressed by their ability to bring police department, fire department, and emergency medical service quickly to the scene, how they cordoned it off and how they collected evidence," the judge said.

For rule of law issues in Al Anbar province, the PRT has extensive experience, but what the AAB brings to the table is manpower and fresh initiative, said Berlin.

An important function of judge advocates is to explain the differences between U.S. and Iraqi law and to dispel myths of the Iraqi system, he said.

"We are from a common-law system. In our system, you have a prosecutor who works with the cops to bring a case, and there's a defense attorney on the other side. It's an adversarial process with the judge acting as a fact finder and an arbiter. They're not asking any questions, just receiving the evidence and making a ruling.

"In the Iraqi court system, you have an investigative judge who works to find evidence, who is neutral but very involved in questioning witnesses. Police are conduits for the investigative judge to build a case that he forwards to a trial court that will adjudicate the evidence file. It's similar to how we would utilize an investigative officer here in the Army," said Berlin.

A common misconception is that Iraqi courts demand two eyewitnesses, he said, whereas the courts are willing to accept forensic evidence such as fingerprints.

"The judges here in Anbar have been hearing cases for decades, said Berlin. "The origins of law – the Hammurabi Code – came from here in Iraq. Iraqis really pride themselves on that."

"The courts here really hold the rule of law in very high esteem and require high levels of evidence to prosecute people," he said.

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