Robert Smith: “I have been working over the past year with the judges of the ninth circuit, the circuit charged with overseeing the…”

“I have been working over the past year with the judges of the ninth circuit, the circuit charged with overseeing the judiciary in the Pacific Islands, to help them secure the funds to conduct a needs assessment for the training of judges in the United States territories and Freely Associated States in the Pacific. That assessment has been completed, and has identified the need for more training programs for nonlawyer and legally trained judges. The judges of the ninth circuit have worked with the National Judicial College to design two separate one-year training programs for judges in the Pacific Islands. One is aimed at nonlawyer judges, and would be conducted in Pohnpei, the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia, in order to be the most cost effective. The second program would be conducted in the United States, and would be geared toward chief justices or presiding judges. These training programs are necessary to help Pacific Islands facing burgeoning populations and judicial systems that are not fully developed.”