Loyola PROLAW grads in Ukraine work to make real change

“There’s a lot to do, and we’ve only just started our work,” says Kateryna Shyroka (LLM ‘18), a trial judge on the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine. “We’ll need 10 years—or maybe more—to make real change and build a new justice system.”

Ukraine has long ranked among the world’s most corrupt countries, with a historically weak justice system, opaque government, extensive business-political ties, and rampant bribery. With the establishment of the High Anti-Corruption Court in April 2019, the country took a substantial step in its journey toward greater transparency and good governance. Shyroka has been part of such crucial work as issuing the October 2021 arrest in absentia of former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted from office in the 2014 “Revolution of Dignity.” She’s one of several Ukrainians bringing the practical skills they gained in Loyola University Chicago’s Rule of Law for Development (PROLAW) program to bear in their home country.

PROLAW, which offers LLM and MJ degrees at Loyola’s campus in Rome, is a unique academic and experiential learning program that prepares students for jobs in the growing rule of law and development field. Graduates have wide-ranging career options in the public, private, civil society, and academic sectors. PROLAW students from across the globe follow the program together as a cohort, gaining a large international network and exposure to real-world challenges.