After three years of project implementation, the Justice Sector Reform Programme is nearing completion and will move into its next phase of a national legal awareness campaign.
The campaign, which falls under subcomponent three of the project, aims at educating members of the public and stakeholders at various levels in society about the justice sector and their rights and responsibilities.
A press release from the Ministry of Legal Affairs yesterday noted that another objective of the campaign would be to advocate for change in the citizenry’s behaviour towards the rule of law.
The Ministry said the reform project is on pace, while adding that the final leg would also focus on building partnerships and improving relations between the public, private and civil society sectors and the justice sector, in an attempt to develop a better understanding and build trust.
Specifically, the legal awareness will include media relations, community outreach and capacity building sessions for media, public, private, civil society representatives, according to the Ministry.
The Inter–American Development Bank (IDB) supported programme targets a series of policy reforms and is being executed in two components–the High Court and the Ministry of Legal Affairs–headed by Chancellor Carl Singh and Minister of Legal Affairs Charles Ramson SC, respectively.
Chancellor Singh had reported on his component of the project last December, saying significant strides were made in achieving the targets. He also mentioned that the reduction of the case backlog is proving to be one of the more difficult sub-components. Additionally, there are problems with the organisation and management study and financial unit improvement.
However, under the project, new Rules of the High Court were recently completed and later approved by the National Assembly and a Constitutional and Administration Law Court will be established shortly as a division of the High Court.
The Chancellor said too that the Project Execution Unit (PEU) of the High Court has executed activities that included the development of JSC governance policies, operational rules and regulations, and a new code of conduct and ethics for judges and magistrates.
Further, the PEU has also developed a Bail Act for judges and magistrates; sentencing guidelines for judges and magistrates; and the cost assessment guidelines for judges.
With respect to the Ministry’s component, the release identified three sub-components. The first one focuses on enhancing the capacity of institutions within the justice sector. This includes re-organisation of the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), phasing out of police prosecution, drafting of civil and criminal procedural laws and institutional strengthening of the Ministry of Legal Affairs. According to the Ministry, the ultimate goal of this approach is to improve the quality, competence and effectiveness of service delivery in organisations within the sector.
Sub-component two entails strengthening systems and linkages among justice institutions and this involves monitoring and evaluation within the sector; the Justice Sector Reform System; the importance of periodic surveys for beneficiaries; and development of civil and criminal committees. This kind of intervention is seen as vital in achieving a more coordinated and integrated sector at various levels – policy, planning and resource allocation, the Ministry said.
The third sub-component addresses improving access to justice. The Ministry explained that access to justice in this context is the ability of people to exercise their rights and resolve their disputes through the justice system, without distinction. Based on challenges in the justice administration system which have impacted on compliance with the rule of law, this sub-component examines various things: legal aid; informal justice; the development of a paralegal system; revising laws from 1976 to 2006; updating of law reports from 1977 to 2007; strengthening the Legal Practitioners’ Committee; mediation; improving the process for the movement of files in the court system; strengthening the Judicial Service Commission (JSC); reducing the backlog of cases in the High Court; strengthening the administration system in the Courts; and building the capacity of judges and magistrates.
Generally, the overarching goal of the programme is to enhance the investment climate and rights enforcement through improved public sector governance, the Ministry added.
