The mission of the CEELI Institute is to advance the rule of law in the world in order to protect fundamental rights and individual liberties; promote transparent, incorruptible, accountable institutions; lay the foundation for economic opportunity and growth; and encourage peaceful resolution of disputes.

The theory of change

We reach exceptional individuals through professional training and networks of expertise so that they have the tools and professional support to advance the rule of law at home. 

How we do it

We develop innovative training programs, grow networks of professionals, and promote peer-to-peer exchanges across four key areas of work: judicial independence and integrity, anti-corruption, legal skills and capacity, and civil society support. We collaborate with justice actors across all corners of society: judges, lawyers, prosecutors, investigators, and civil society.

The CEELI Story

The CEELI Institute was established in Prague in 2000. Scroll below to learn more about our early origins and growth.

 

1990 — The Central and Eastern European Law Initiative (CEELI)

The American Bar Association launches the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative (ABA CEELI). As part of this initiative, more than 5,000 judges, attorneys, law professors, and legal specialists provided pro bono assistance to promote the rule of law in the region.

2000 — Establishment of the CEELI Institute

The CEELI Institute is formally established in Prague as an independent non-profit organization, legally separated from ABA in 2004.

2007 — Dedication of the Villa Grébovka

On June 8th, the former Czech President Vaclav Havel and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor join CEELI Institute Founder Homer Moyer to publicly dedicate the Villa Grébovka as the headquarters of the CEELI Institute which continues today.

2011 — First Conference of the Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe

The CEELI Institute helps establish the Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe, which annually brings together the senior judges from the region’s highest courts to share and develop strategies and best practices to promote judicial integrity and accountability, to improve court management, and to combat corruption in the courts.

2012 — Launch of CEELI's Central and Eastern European Judicial Network

The Network facilitates career growth and development for the judges, fosters peer engagement, and produces concrete tools to better assist the judges in performing their duties.

2012 — CEELI's First Advanced Anticorruption Course

The CEELI Institute launches its now marquee training designed and delivered by the world’s experts on investigating and prosecuting official corruption.

2012-2018 — CEELI Trains Tunisian Judges

The Institute partners with the Tunisian judiciary to train nearly all Tunisian judges, focusing on judging in a democratic society. This program brings together judges from all ranks and courts in Tunisia at regular workshops designed to improve professional skills and to build the public’s confidence in the judiciary.

2013 — Support to Myanmar Lawyers

The Institute begins supporting human rights lawyers in Myanmar, in partnership with the Burma Center Prague.

2015 — CEELI's Fellowship Program

The Institute starts providing respite, fellowship, and sabbatical opportunities in Prague for human rights lawyers, journalists, and civil society working under stressful and challenging conditions in repressive environments.

2017 — Expanding our Work to India

Our work expands to India with a new partnership with the Indian National Judicial Academy and the U.S. Federal Judicial Center to promote exchanges between U.S. and Indian judges.

2017 — New Anti-Corruption Curricula

The Institute begins cooperating with anti-corruption watchdogs and launches anti-corruption training combining law enforcement with watchdogs, encouraging cooperation on corruption investigations.

2017 — EU Judicial Training Series

The Institute starts a series of legal education programs for judges from Central and Eastern European Union member states on relevant EU instruments and directives governing the application of both civil and criminal law.

2020 — Launch of CEELI Online

Amid the pandemic, the Institute launches CEELI Online, its one-stop hub for specialized, remotely accessible courses and dialogues for legal, judicial, and civil society professionals. Through this platform, CEELI offers integrated courses on a wide range of timely and relevant topics.

2021 — Launch of the African Judicial Exchange Network

The African Judicial Exchange Network (AJN) is established, with an initial group of six countries. The AJN comprises judges from anglophone African countries who regularly gather to share knowledge and experience on issues such as judicial independence, anti-corruption, transparency, accountability, efficiency, and ethics.

2022 — Emergency Support to Ukraine

Very soon after Russia’s war broke out in Ukraine, the Institute rapidly fundraised over $200,000 in private donations to provide humanitarian support to Ukrainian refugees in Prague. As the war carried on, we launched a Summer School for Ukrainian law students on legal skills needed during wartime that we have continued through 2023.  

2023 — Anti-Corruption Support to Ukraine

The CEELI Institute expands our training offer and support to Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies, investigators, and prosecutors to address wartime risks and in anticipation of reconstruction.

Our Team

Director of Finance and Administration

Marta Werenycka

Residence Manager

Simona Trázníková

Assistant Residence Manager

Jindra Erbenová

Maintenance Assistant

Jiří Manda

Our Leadership

USA

Susan Ringler

Chair of the Management Board

CEELI Institute Vice-Chair; former Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, International Rescue Committee

Switzerland

Leanne Geale

Vice Chair of the Management Board

EVP, General Counsel, Corporate Governance and Compliance, Nestle

USA

Hon. Barrington D. Parker, Jr.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

USA

Scott P. Boylan

Partner, Stoneturn

UK

Mark S. Ellis

Executive Director, the International Bar Association

USA

Susan Gouijnstook

Chief Solutions Officer, Jobs for the Future (JFF)

USA

Mira Gur-Arie

Director, International Judicial Relations, Federal Judicial Center

Czechia

Hon. Ivana Hrdličková

Former President, Special Tribunal for Lebanon

USA

Alexander Juden

Author, former Advisor, Schlumberger Ltd

USA

Homer E. Moyer, Jr.

Founder and Chair Emeritus of the CEELI Institute; Senior Counsel, Miller & Chevalier

USA

J. Larry Nichols

Chairman Emeritus, Devon Energy Corporation

USA

Timothy E. Powers

Senior Counsel, Haynes and Boone

UK

Natalia Shehadeh

Senior Vice President and Chief Integrity Officer at ABB Ltd

USA

Laura Stein

Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate and Legal Affairs, Mondelēz International

USA

Hon. John R. Tunheim

U.S. District Court for Minnesota

USA

William Meyer

Former Attorney, Hutchinson Black and Cook

Czechia

Jiřina Nováková

Former Vice-Mayor, Prague 9

Czechia

Jitka Logesova

Head of Investigations, Crises Response and Compliance practice group at Wolf Theiss. Former Chair of the IBA Anti-Corruption Committee

USA

Quinn O'Keefe

President

Founder of Climate for Justice

USA

John Mullen

Treasurer

Senior Advisor, McLarty Associates

USA

Jean-Michel Ferat

Senior Managing Director, Ankura Consulting Group

Canada

Jonathan Fried

Former Coordinator, Int. Economic Relations; Former Personal Representative of the Prime Minister for the G20, Canada

USA

Hon. John M. Walker Jr.

U.S. Court of Appeals for Second Circuit

USA

Ann Sultan

Vice Chair, International at Miller & Chevalier Chartered | Practice Co-Lead, Workplace Culture and ConducMiller & Chevalier

Switzerland

Elizabeth Andersen

Executive Director, Basel Institute on Governance

USA

Kate Atkinson

Member and Firm Chair, Miller & Chevalier

The Netherlands

Hon. Rosemary Barkett

Iran-United States Claims Tribunal

USA

Mary Boies

Boies Schiller Flexner, LLP

France

Nicola Bonucci

Associate Professor and Attorney, former Director for Legal Affairs OECD

UK

Laura Brank

Partner, Dechert

USA

Hon. David Campbell

U.S. District Judge, United States District Court for the District of Arizonand Chair of the International Judicial Relations Committee of the National Judicial Conference

USA

Scott Carlson

Associate Executive Director for Global Programs, American Bar Association

USA

Maryann Clifford

Ethics Consultant, former Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, BP plc and Motorola

Italy

Bruno Cova

Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Italy

USA

Timothy L. Dickinson

Chair of the International Advisory Board

Senior Counsel, Steptoe

Israel

Eytan Epstein

Senior Partner, Firon & Company

USA

Hon. Thomas Griffith

Former United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Bulgaria

Hon. Yonko Grosev

Former Judge at the European Court of Human Rights

USA

Gerald Haddock

President and Founder, Haddock Investments

UK

Baroness Helena Kennedy

QC, Executive Director, IBA Human Rights Institute

India

Prashant Kumar

President of the Bar Association of India

United States

Christopher Lehmann

Chairperson, Prosecutor Vetting Commission, Republic of Moldova

USA

Hon. Lewis Liman

United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

USA

Joel Martin

Former CEELI Institute Executive Director

USA

Mary Noel Pepys

International Rule of Law Attorney

The Netherlands

Hon. Kimberley Prost

International Criminal Court

USA

Robert Stein

Everett Fraser Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School

Czechia

Martin Šolc

Partner, Kocián Šolc Balaštik; Former President, the International Bar Association

We couldn’t do this without our supporters

The CEELI Institute is sincerely grateful to the many individual donors, corporations, foundations, and institutions without whom we could not fulfill our mission advancing the rule of law globally, which is now more important than ever.

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VILLA GRÉBOVKA

Home to the CEELI Institute

The Villa Grébovka was built in the late 19th century as the summer home of Moritz Gröbe, an industrialist who made his fortune in mining and railroads. The CEELI Institute completed the Villa’s transformation into a conference and residential center in 2007.

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