Letter from our CEO

Hello,

Imagine a world where a wife is stripped of her husband's property when he dies. Or a world that allows you to invest in the local economy, but seizes your goods and capital without giving you an avenue to get it back.

Imagine a world with poverty so suffocating that you are forced to sell your daughter to buy six month's worth of food. Or a world that watches while others enslave your children, and then looks the other way when you try to rescue them.

These worlds are not from a science fiction novel or some long-ago civilization. These worlds exist today, side-by-side with more civilized societies, where there is no Rule of Law.

Rule of Law is the concept that a functioning society needs an accessible, independent and transparent legal system, along with a set of laws that everyone, including the government, follows.

The circles of poverty, human suffering, corruption and bribery that exist in the world today can only be broken when governments create fair laws and strong, objective judicial systems with the authority to enforce those laws.

Strong and independent court systems are the surest way to encourage economic development. Clear laws must be in place to govern commercial behavior so anyone can risk capital and know that risk is protected from dishonesty and corruption. Most economic activity is based on trust in the Rule of Law as the consistent, essential foundation of business dealings in complex economies.

It should also come as no surprise that societies with weak or non-existent economies also experience some of the worst human rights violations in the world. Poverty breeds corrupt, defective police and legal institutions. Without even the most basic foundation for the Rule of Law, there is no way to prevent rampant lawlessness and exploitation for generations of people.

As a global corporation, LexisNexis works to establish and spread the Rule of Law. We believe we have responsibilities beyond our financial responsibilities to our stakeholders. We are not supporting Rule of Law for commercial reasons, but the reality is that Rule of Law is good for economies, which is also good for LexisNexis.

We will continue to look for ways to integrate society's broader issues into our strategy and leverage our size, expertise and global reach to help establish cultures that respect and support the Rule of Law.

Sincerely,

Andy Prozes
CEO, LexisNexis Group