Speeches
Remarks by Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli at Closing Ceremony of First Annual Cambodia Client Counseling Competition
Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh
February 29, 2008
Good morning. Thank you for inviting me here today, and I would like to commend my USAID staff, EWMI, the American Bar Association and the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia for organizing this event. I would also like to congratulate each of the three final teams for their achievement. These skills are very difficult to master and it is even more impressive that you mastered them in English.
This competition is an excellent example of the innovative and effective way in which important skills can be taught to law students. Like any other course of study, the law can be exceedingly boring if all the student does is learn from books and lectures. Students here have learned how to counsel a client, how to analyze a case and present legal and non-legal options in a useful and professional manner.
These skills will enable you, the future lawyers, judges and prosecutors of Cambodia, to more effectively serve your clients and ultimately serve justice. Your future clients are relying on you and it will be your sworn duty to take care of them and provide them your best advice. While the law is a wonderful invention, it can also be very dangerous. A famous Greek named Anarchus once warned: “Written laws are like the web of a spider, and will like a spider web only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them.” It will be your job to make sure that is not true. And that is why the U.S. government through USAID supports Rule of Law programs like this one.
Of course, this is only one of many ways in which the U.S. government supports Cambodian law schools and the rule of law more generally. Another famous Greek, Aristotle, once observed that “under the law, man is the noblest of creatures, but when separated from law and justice, man is the worst.” So we look forward to continuing our relationships with the law schools and the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia to build a firm foundation of law that protects all Cambodians. Finally, I would like to thank the President of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Mr. Ky Tech, who is joining me today in announcing the final results of this competition.
