Because of the unfamiliarity of some international development contractors (and some international government and bi-lateral missions) of the professional requirements of lawyers, social scientists, and public administration practitioners who now participate more frequently and in more sensitive areas in internationally funded assessments and program implementations, this form letter is now being used by professionals prior to participation or inclusion in such projects to explain the constraints on activities in the capacities of lawyers and social scientists.  These requirements are not personal choices but are established by the Codes of Professional Responsibility, interpreted with other professionals in various fields, in the context of government funded activities in international development.  They are reflective of the high standards and attention to detail of those professions and adherence to them in working for you will be reflected in higher quality and greater respect for your work product among professionals, the public, and host country stakeholders.

While this may be the first time you have seen this, this codified statement of professional responsibilities has been published in Practicing Anthropology, in the American Anthropology Association Newsletter, in the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Journal, and in the National Association of Public Administrators Professionals, in 1997, and they have made this code available on the web.  It is likely that it is now available in several other professions as well.

The key obligations are as follows:

As an Attorney:

1)  Presentation of Independent Legal Judgments to Client Beneficiaries – Although development work occurs overseas, U.S. Bar Associations that license attorneys have determined that review of laws and codes, judgments and advice on issues of rights and matters of enforcement and administration of laws meets the definition of the “practice of law.”  In such activities, lawyers are obligated to present their legal judgments directly to a client (including stakeholder beneficiaries to benefit from a contract and government agents funding the project) without any dilution of those judgments by non-lawyers.  Any “unanimous” reports by a contractor that require lawyers to submit judgments to a team that includes non-lawyers, and in which the lawyers have no guarantee of protected minority opinions, could be potential grounds for sanction (potentially disbarment) for “unauthorized practice of law.”  (The relevant code sections in California are:  61-25, 1-300, 1-310, 1-320, 3-100 and 3-110.)

2)  Freedom from Governmental Pressures and Dedication to the Interests of the Stakeholders – Legal work in development for the interest of “stakeholder beneficiaries” in host countries creates an attorney-client relationship similar to that in a legal services corporation.

An attorney’s primary professional responsibility is to defend the interests of those “stakeholder beneficiaries” and to insulate judgments from any political or financial pressures that could be exerted due to a difference of interests between the client beneficiary and the source of funding and payment for the services.  (The relevant section in California is Code Section 1-600).

As a Social Scientist and as a Public Administrator:  (With reference for social anthropologists to the Statement of Professional and Ethical Responsibilities of the Society of Applied Anthropology, considered to be the clearest and most concise on the issue of applied social science, and for public administration practitioners, to the statement of the American Society for Public Administration.)

1)  Protection of Open Access to Information Collected and Recommendations Offered for the Communities and Stakeholder Beneficiaries of the Host Country – Provisions of codes that mandate respect for the dignity, integrity and worth of the communities of the stakeholders imply fair exchanges with host country citizens who share their time and openness of research results.   In exchange for good faith assistance and sharing of resources with government contractors, there is an implied promise that these communities and ordinary citizens providing assistance (i.e., not merely government officials of those countries) will be able to see and receive, presumably at either governmental or contractor expense in making them available, copies of any written reports that are prepared.  It is implicit that the process of information collection is a fair, open and bilateral exchange that gives value and dignity to the stakeholder beneficiaries by providing them something which they can see and use, themselves.

2)  Guarantees Against Suppression or Distortion of Policy Recommendations – Social science standards oblige practitioners to take all possible precautions against fraud, falsification, distortion, misrepresentation, and censorship of findings, conclusions,, and recommendations.  This implies that contractors will guarantee that they will present and protect the dissenting opinions of practitioners (particularly when there are disagreements among consultants and between consultants and either the contractor of the government funding agency) to the clients and stakeholder beneficiaries.  This implies further that such work will appear in a final report and that contractors will not condition or postpone payment or employment on the acceptance by a government agency of a consultant’s recommendations or create any barriers or pressures that would prevent free speech dissemination of information collected, including the reporting of government wrongdoing.

3)  Protection of the Diversity of Communities and Their Rights to Self Determination and Difference – Social science practitioners place the interests of the stakeholders (as individuals and diverse communities) first and prior to those of the source of the funding (the agency or the contractor) and guarantee that those voices will reach the government funding agency in any professional report.  This obligation requires professionals not to provide simple “formulaic” judgments that reflect an existing approach that may be a prevailing practice, but to reflect a sensitivity to the pluralistic needs of individuals and communities (and not merely the governments or leading sectors) of the host country.