The Attorney General Alliance’s Rule of Law International Program focuses on providing opportunities for US state attorneys general and key leadership staff to meet – in person – with foreign government, nonprofit, and academic leaders across the globe to collaborate, learn, and address international legal and criminal issues. Just as our programs in Mexico and Africa focus on promoting the fair and equal application of the law, our Rule of Law Program has provided the opportunity to do the same at the highest levels of government from Africa to Asia and virtually every continent.
The Rule of Law International Program grew out of a series of binational meetings between AGA and Mexico in 2006 and, today, our Alliance Partnership program is funded largely by the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Rule of Law international delegations are a crucial component in promoting legal stability, peace, human rights, economic development, and effective global governance.
In consultation and collaboration with the US federal government and US embassies, the Rule of Law Program focuses on matters including: consumer protection, organized crime, cybercrime and cybersecurity, data privacy and social media, human trafficking, and counterfeiting. These issues are priorities to state attorneys general and the United States’ bilateral security relations.
For example, matters involving the rapidly evolving area of data privacy have been primary areas of discussion and collaboration between state attorneys general and their international counterparts given the overlap between state laws and regulations and the European Union’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation. Further, the use of cryptocurrency and other technologies by bad actors to conduct various forms of illicit trafficking will continue to be a focus of these exchanges.
Another critical outcome of these interactions are opportunities for the sharing of best practices from state attorney general offices to our international counterparts. Allowing our state attorneys general, their assistant attorneys general (both civil and criminal), and investigators to educate their colleagues in other countries about best practices and legal policy leads to mutually beneficial relationships in the fight against transnational crime and in the promotion of the rule of law.
The Rule of Law Program also fosters a mutually beneficial economic relationship and strengthening of cultural ties between our states and the countries we engage with. Further, this collaboration leads to policy innovations on both sides of the table as leaders share experiences, legal issues, and investigative best practices in the pursuit of justice and the rule of law.
The Rule of Law international delegations will continue to provide a unique environment where state attorneys general can interact and discuss policy initiatives, leading to development of key long-term relationships with both state and international partners.