CEELI Institute

Name

CEELI Institute

Legal name

CEELI Institute, o.p.s.

Website

https://ceeliinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Education and Training Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal & Compliance (CLE, Paralegal CE) (EDAAALAB)

Keywords

• Judicial training programs
• Rule of law education
• Legal capacity building
• Anti-corruption training
• Judicial exchange networks

Headquarters

HQ city

Prague

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: The CEELI Institute is an independent, non-profit organization (CEELI Institute, o.p.s.) that operates through donations, grants, and funding support from governments, foundations, and private donors. Funding has included support from Swiss government, U.S. State Department, and private companies like Devon Energy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The CEELI Institute provides rule-of-law training, peer-judge exchange networks, and practitioner-authored guidelines for judges, prosecutors, investigators, lawyers, and civil society in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Ukraine. Its core offerings are delivered as in-person training at Villa Grébovka in Prague, online programs and webinars, annual symposia, summer schools, and freely downloadable multilingual publications.

Product overview

The CEELI Institute is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the rule of law, headquartered at Villa Grébovka in Prague, Czech Republic. Rather than offering a software product, the Institute provides a portfolio of programs and services including judicial exchange networks (the Central and Eastern European Judicial Exchange Network with 400+ judges from 21 countries, and the African Judicial Exchange Network with 200+ judges from 11 countries), published guidelines and practical tools (such as guidelines on judicial communication, managing pressures on independence, case management, judicial writing, and alternatives to judicial vetting), training programs and courses (both in-person at Prague and online including webinars), the annual Rule of Law Symposium, and the Legal Skills in a Time of War summer school for Ukrainian law students. These offerings work together to strengthen judicial independence, combat corruption, and support civil society across the regions where the Institute operates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Central and Eastern European Judicial Exchange Network (CEE JN) A peer-judge network platform bringing together 400+ judges from 21 Central and Eastern European countries to share expertise on judicial independence, transparency, accountability, efficiency, and ethics, and to produce practical tools that assist judges in performing their duties.
• African Judicial Exchange Network (AJN) A peer-judge network for cooperation and expertise exchange among 200+ judges from 11 Anglophone African countries (Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia), offering roundtable meetings, in-person and online trainings, and webinars on judicial independence, transparency, accountability, judicial ethics, and cybercrimes.
• Guidelines on Judicial Communication with the Public and the Media A comprehensive publication developed with Swiss government support, addressing strategic judicial communication, engagement with media and the public, crisis communication, responsible social media use, and strategies for countering disinformation, including practical tools, case-law summaries, and real-life examples from CEE judges. Available in English, Bulgarian, and Czech.
• Guidelines for Judges on Managing Pressures on Independence Guidelines developed by judges for judges, listing types of pressures that can be imposed on judicial independence and practical response methods, created through a collaborative effort of 12 judges from nine countries. Available in Albanian, Bulgarian, English, Georgian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, and Ukrainian.
• Case Management - Practical Guidelines for Judges Guidelines covering principles of effective case management, preparation, timing, prioritization, decision-making, and collaboration, drafted with input from network countries and international partners and targeting African judges and policy developers.
• A Guide to Judicial Writing A practical handbook written by core participants of the African Judicial Exchange Network, designed to increase clarity and transparency in judicial interactions.
• Guidelines on Alternatives to Extraordinary Judicial Vetting A regional, peer-led initiative developed by judges for judges, providing alternatives to disruptive vetting processes while strengthening judicial accountability and preserving judicial independence.
• Pressures on Judges Flyer A concise resource outlining examples of pressures judges can face and practical response methods, based on the Guidelines on Managing Pressures on Judicial Independence.
• Shining the Light on Corruption: Freedom of Information and Transparency in Central and Eastern Europe A comprehensive report authored by David Banisar addressing the critical role of Freedom of Information in promoting government transparency and combating corruption in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Annual Rule of Law Symposium An annual symposium in Prague bringing together delegates from government, civil society, business, and academia to discuss pressing topics in the rule of law.
• Legal Skills in a Time of War (Summer School) An annual two-week summer school for Ukrainian law students and early-career lawyers focused on trial advocacy skills, trauma-informed lawyering, and international criminal law for war crimes prosecution, hosted at Villa Grébovka in Prague.
• Online Training Programs and Webinars World-class interactive training and skills development programs offered to legal professionals in Prague and abroad, including online programs and webinars. In 2025, the Institute organized eight online programs each attracting more than 100 judges.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tens of thousands of professionals engaged since 2007
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• European Court of Human RightscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ECtHR judges participate as keynote speakers and faculty in CEELI programs. Judge Mykola Gnatovskyy contributed to judicial communication conference; ECtHR Media Officer Ioanna Lachana led development of communication guidelines.
• Institute of Legislative Ideas (Ukraine)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Ukrainian think-tank partnered with CEELI for bilateral conference on sanctions and asset forfeiture, part of ongoing Czech-Ukrainian cooperation.
• Fulbright Specialist ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partner providing expert faculty for the Ukrainian summer school program, including Marcia Levy from University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law.
• Widener University Delaware Law SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Academic partner contributing faculty and support for the Ukrainian summer school program on legal skills and war crimes prosecution.
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Major law firm providing expert faculty (Olivia Wilson-Bushell) for the summer school program on trauma-informed lawyering and trial advocacy.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• International Bar Association (IBA): Global bar association with overlapping rule-of-law mission; CEELI's Board Chair Dr. Mark Ellis is also IBA's Executive Director. IBA runs judicial and lawyer-facing programs at a much broader scale but does not specialize in CEELI's hands-on judicial exchange model.
• Open Society Foundations – Justice Initiative: Funds and operates rule-of-law and judicial independence programs across multiple continents; operates at larger scale and broader scope than CEELI but addresses many of the same judicial capacity-building problems.
• International Commission of Jurists (ICJ): Global human rights and rule-of-law organization of senior jurists; works on judicial independence and integrity through international advocacy and country-level engagement, overlapping with CEELI's mission and judge-focused programming.
• Council of Europe – HELP Programme: Council of Europe programme delivering human rights training for legal professionals (judges, prosecutors, lawyers) across member states, directly comparable audience and content to CEELI's judicial training and guidelines.
• UNODC – Judicial Integrity and Anti-Corruption: UN agency developing global standards and training tools for judicial integrity and anti-corruption — directly comparable content area to CEELI's anti-corruption and judicial independence programs, with much larger institutional footprint.

Emerging players

• World Justice Project: NGO producing the Rule of Law Index and operating rule-of-law programs including judicial training and engagement; comparable mission area, multi-region operating geographies, and reliance on philanthropic and government funding.
• Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL): Justice innovation organization that designs and tests new approaches to justice delivery, including judicial training and court reform, with comparable donor mix and operating geographies overlapping with CEELI's footprint.

Direct peers

• American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI): Direct predecessor of CEELI (CEELI originated as an ABA project in 1992 before becoming independent in 2001). ABA ROLI runs judicial independence, anti-corruption, and legal capacity programs across the same regions CEELI serves, with substantially larger resources.
• International Development Law Organization (IDLO): Intergovernmental organization focused on promoting rule of law and access to justice, delivering capacity building for judges, prosecutors, and civil society in developing and transition countries — directly comparable programming and donor base to CEELI.
• Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law: German foundation providing capacity building for judges and prosecutors in transition and developing countries on rule-of-law issues; comparable niche specialization, donor-backed model, and programmatic focus on judicial independence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CEELIInstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ceeli-institute
• Xx.com/CEELI_Institute
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheCEELIInstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CEELI Institute