William T. Loris

Founding Director Emeritus, Rule of Law for Development Program

Prof. Loris is the Founding Director Emeritus of Loyola’s Rule of Law for Development Program (PROLAW), taught at Loyola’s campus in Rome, and serves on the PROLAW faculty. He joined Loyola in 2010 after a distinguished career in international service.

Prof. Loris served for five years in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire as a Regional Legal Advisor for West Africa to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), working on the legal aspects of the USAID program across West and Central Africa. He then served for five years in Cairo as a Legal Advisor in USAID's Egypt mission. Building on this experience he joined two other lawyers in 1983 to co-found the International Development Law Institute (IDLI), a Dutch foundation. IDLI was later transformed into an inter-governmental organization, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), by an international convention. IDLO is now a key international institution in the promotion of the rule of law in developing countries, countries in economic transition and countries recovering from violent conflict. Prof. Loris served in successive periods as IDLO’s General Counsel, Director of Programs and finally, by appointment of the IDLO Member States, Director General.

Mr. Loris has been a leading advocate for the rule of law throughout the developing countries and countries in economic transition and for the improvement of the position of such countries in international negotiations. In his institutional capacities, he has led and participated in projects throughout the global south aimed at advancing the rule of law and continues to do so on a consultancy basis. The PROLAW curriculum reflects Mr. Loris's experience and his conviction that sustainability of progress toward the rule of law, better governance and democracy depends significantly upon the quality and appropriateness of the advice and guidance which national legal experts bring to the reform agenda. : Continuing in this vein, he is currently developing a new program focused on strengthening the capacity of professionals in the global south to advise on the establishment and operation of locally-rooted project level grievance mechanisms.

Prof. Loris is also a founding member of the World Bank’s Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development and has served on the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Corruption where he began his advocacy for the use of private civil actions against corruption.

Education

BA, History, Santa Clara University, 1968 (one year undertaken at Loyola University Chicago’s Rome Center)
JD, Santa Clara University, 1972
LLM in International and Comparative Law, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, 1973

Professional/Community Affiliations

Member, World Bank Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development (2011-2020)
Member, World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Corruption (2008-2010)
Represented IDLO at World Economic Forum (2005-2010)

Courses Taught

Theory and Practice of Assessments in Rule of Law Advising

Publications/Research Listings

Private Civil Actions: A Powerful Tool in the Fight Against Corruption, Globar Corruption Report (2013)

Awards

National order of service by the President of Lithuania for service to Lithuania during its transition (2007)
Alumni Special Achievement Award, by the Law Alumni Association at Santa Clara University (2007)