Kimberley Motley, Afghanistan and the Rule of Law

“Every human deserves protection under their country’s laws — even when that law is forgotten or ignored. Sharing three cases from her international legal practice, Kimberley Motley, an American litigator practicing in Afghanistan and elsewhere, shows how a country’s own laws can bring both justice and “justness”: using the law for its intended purpose, to protect.” — TED.com

According to TED, Kimberley Motley, Esq “is the only Western litigator in Afghanistan’s courts”. In this talk, she explains how she uses law — in essence, legal provisions that are seldom invoked or “used” — to defend her clients and get them the justness that they deserve. The fact that Afghanistan has so many laws aiming to protect its people and that some of them go “unused” just boggles my mind. Perhaps I speak from ignorance, but I can’t imagine there being a law in Canada that hasn’t been invoked in a good number of instances.

It is interesting that she uses the word “justness” as opposed to justice. As a soon-to-be lawyer, I have realized that justice does not always equal “justness.” Sometimes justice means “just us.”

She says that not knowing the law is a “global problem.”  That tells me that there is much work to be done in the area of legal education.

You can find her TED talk on the TED website or watch below.

Photo credit: TED.com