Local judge returns from Iraq hopeful

The only bangs 4th Judicial District Judge David Shakes hears these days are those of his gavel coming down to start or end court hearings.

Not too long ago, he was hearing another bang: the sound of gunfire echoing in his ears as he tried to help establish “rule of law” in Iraq.

Shakes returned earlier this month from a year’s deployment in Iraq. Over there, he was U.S. Army Col. Shakes, serving as the first-ever Rule of Law Adviser to the multinational forces, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Iraq criminal justice system officials.

Although he was attending meetings instead of battling insurgents, those meetings took place square in the heart of the war zone — Baghdad.

“Compared to a lot of people, I had a pretty good life, especially in comparison to the kids over there fighting this war,” Shakes said.

Good, if you don’t mind having to ride in an armored fleet of Humvees every time you have to go to a meeting. Good, if you live through attacks on that convoy, unlike many of the people Shakes worked with there.

But he said it was worth it, because he was able to make progress in helping Iraq citizens punish criminals and insurgents in the fair way that’s the bedrock of any solid government.

“It’s better if they see insurgents convicted and held in Iraq prisons,” Shakes said. “That develops the local population’s faith in their court system and the rule of law.”

Something that seems simple in this country - communication among prosecutors, judges, police and prison officials — was a struggle to implement in a country where only about 10 percent of the estimated 24,000 detainees get a trial. Many of the rest linger in custody.

One of Shakes’ proudest accomplishments, he said, was getting the ministries of police, judges, labor and social affairs to talk to each other.

“They’re so used to being segregated, they don’t just pick up the phone to call” another ministry, Shakes said.

A program he helped launch in September created an agency specifically for that purpose.

The coalition has also helped establish “mini Rule of Law” courts in Ramadi and Mosul — secure compounds where judges can feel safe conducting trials. Previously, all insurgents were shipped to Baghdad for trial.

In the Iraqi criminal justice system, the judges investigate crimes, hold brief trials and make decisions on cases. Shakes said it was a struggle to get Iraqis to see the credibility of the American jury system.

“To them, a jury is a strange way to solve disputes,” Shakes said. They were dumbfounded, he said, that Americans would let 12 ordinary citizens untrained in the law make such important decisions.

“I was amazed at how fundamentally different our culture is, and how that came up in every single thing we did,” Shakes said.

Shakes finished out his tour in Washington, D.C., where he helped government officials begin negotiations with Iraqi officials on extending a long-term security partnership agreement. The United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing it expires in December.

“The government of Iraq has indicated that after December 2008, it desires to have a more traditional defense/security agreement with the Unites States,” Shakes wrote in an e-mail.

He also visited the Arlington National Cemetery while there and visited the grave of Army Commander Phillip Murphy-Sweet, who was killed April 7 when a convoy Shakes was in was attacked.

“A year of extraordinary contrasts,” Shakes wrote of his experience. “Sorrow for the families of those killed on April 7. Pride in watching the deputy ministers committee address the problems of the criminal justice system in Iraq in a forum I helped develop.”

The surge of troops in 2007, Shakes said, has improved the situation in Iraq, and he hopes his time there helped build a secure court system.

Said Shakes: “They do want to do better.”

He’s optimistic they will.