International Development Law Organization

Highlights 2013: Legal and Institutional Reform

IDLO HIGHLIGHTS 2013

LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORM

We aim to improve the quality and integrity of justice institutions, assist constitution-making and legal reform, and promote good governance. Most of our work under this goal takes place in transitional and post-conflict states and in countries seeking to strengthen democracy: Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Somalia, South Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.

AFGHANISTAN: PROGRESS, STEP BY LEGAL STEP

Afghanistan emerged from Taliban rule an institutional wasteland. The justice deficit was acute. To this day, in parts of the country, a climate of insecurity and volatility persists. This makes the delivery of justice both a daily struggle and a longterm challenge. Deadly court bombings in 2013 brought home the danger faced by judicial staff.

While many among Afghanistan's legal profession have braved adversity with courage and dedication, there is much ground left to cover. Low capacity, insufficient skills and probity standards, and limited awareness of the law and procedure are all significant obstacles. The World Bank has found that most Afghans view their justice system as 'slow, ineffective and often corrupt'. Rural women, for example, see few of its benefits.

It is widely recognized that development of the justice sector is critical to growth, poverty reduction and the protection of rights. For more than a decade now, IDLO has worked with the Afghan Government to advance judicial reform and foster the rule of law.

In 2013, we launched a large-scale program to consolidate the institutions of justice, transfer skills and empower the country's legal profession. Belying frequently pessimistic news, we built the capacity of thousands of judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers and police investigators. The aim is to create resilience and enable state institutions to develop further on their own.

It is widely recognized that development of the justice sector is critical to growth, poverty reduction and the protection of rights.

Image: Paul Hutchings   |   Click to see full-size image

 

Image: Paul Hutchings   |   Click to see full-size image

JUSTICE TRAINING TRANSITION PROGRAM

Launched in March 2013 in partnership with the Afghan Government, the Justice Training Transition Program (JTTP) offers justice professionals a high level of training in core legal skills and competencies.

It provides continuing education courses on Afghan law to provincial courts, the Ministry of Justice and other government bodies. By far our most ambitious program anywhere, JTTP also provides criminal justice training and mentoring for Afghan prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys and investigators.

JTTP operates in most Afghan provinces, including – uniquely for a development organization – in the difficult environments of Helmand and Kandahar.

As the international presence in the country winds down, IDLO is gradually transferring full training responsibilities to the Afghan Government. The aim is to create a self-sustaining, responsive justice system.

JTTP in numbers:

  • Offices in 7 provinces, including Kabul
  • 1 mobile training unit covering 27 provinces
  • 116 courses
  • 2604 male professionals trained
  • 436 female professionals trained
 

JTTP IS A GROUNDBREAKING PROGRAM THAT IS TRANSITIONING LEGAL TRAINING IN AFGHANISTAN FROM BEING A PRIMARILY DONOR-FUNDED AND -LED EFFORT TO ASUSTAINABLE AFGHAN-GOVERNMENT PROVIDED EFFORT. IDLO HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD WORKING ON THIS ISSUE, AND HAVE UP UNTIL THIS POINT MET EVERY SINGLE MILESTONE.

Marie Harf, Spokesperson, US State Department

SPOTLIGHT: STEMMING THE FLOW OF CASH, SMOOTHING THE COURSE OF JUSTICE

One of the most resonant components of IDLO's capacity building in Afghanistan consists of intensive training in the fight against money laundering. In mid-2013, Afghanistan's Central Bank said the practice had rocketed, with large amounts of cash leaving the country illegally.

The funds are said to be hemorrhaging through loopholes in the financial system or in cash. In 2011, through Kabul's airport alone, the Bank said $4.5 million had been laundered. A separate estimate put the loss to the economy that year at $18 billion, more than half of Afghanistan's GDP.

A sub-program of JTTP, the full 8-week ACLEA course – the acronym stands for Advanced Continuous Legal Education for Afghanistan – includes a total of ten modules, among them Critical Thinking, Search and Seizure, Interrogation & Interview and Criminal Procedure.

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KYRGYZSTAN: PURSUING RESPONSIVE JUSTICE

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Good governance and social justice depend on a functional judiciary. But in many former Soviet states, attempts to develop one have been hampered by poor statecraft and political upheaval. Chronic underfunding forms a structural barrier to judges' independence. Courts are short of basic equipment; their security is inadequate. Across Central Asia, transparency and the quality of management are lacking.

In 2005, IDLO began working to create sustainable judicial frameworks in Kyrgyzstan. Then, as the country stabilized following the second of two revolutions, IDLO engaged more broadly with its government to establish a credible legal system. In 2013, an IDLO-supported program for the judicial sector was formulated: it aims to foster independence and integrity among the Kyrgyz judiciary. The program is accompanied by an Anti-Corruption Plan, designed on the basis of a corruption vulnerability assessment conducted by IDLO.

Also in 2013, IDLO sponsored a regional Forum on the Effectiveness of Justice, which produced the Bishkek Recommendations. These include mechanisms for better and more sustainable court financing, and best practices for developing and administering judicial training curricula.

Not least, 2013 saw IDLO team up with the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan to create an e-justice portal (www.sot.kg). This allows Kyrgyz judges to publish their decisions in real time. Citizens can also gain information about scheduled hearings or the progress and outcome of their case. The move has reduced opacity, cut the opportunities for bribery and improved end-user experience.

Without successful judicial reforms, there will be no economic or social reform.

Feruza Z. Djumasheva, Chair, Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan

 

TUNISIA: CLEAN FINANCES FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Tunisia is the birth country of the Arab Spring and increasingly seen as a potential success story. Despite the threat of violence and radicalism, it has successfully completed an inclusive constitutional process. The new Constitution enshrines pluralism, preserves women's rights and enhances freedoms.

But amid economic and social unrest, citizens are looking for a clean break with past practices; they demand higher ethical standards in public life. With this in mind, in 2013 IDLO began building the capacity of Tunisian magistrates and public prosecutors to combat financial and economic crimes. In close partnership with the newly-formed Pôle Judiciaire Financier, we drafted curricula for investigation and adjudication, and trained over 200 legal professionals in investigative techniques.

IDLO is also seeking to involve civil society organizations in combatting financial crime and protecting whistleblowers..

Tunisia - Photo by Ezequiel Scagnetti

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By opening up to democracy and to a new constitutional culture, Tunisia has opted for good governance in all sectors. IDLO's technical assistance is extremely important for strengthening the fight against fraud, and thus the public's confidence that the country is financially on the right track

Professor Brahim Bertégi, Faculté des sciences juridiques, politiques et sociales de Tunis

 

THE RULE OF LAW IN THE ARAB WORLD

Yes, there should be a ballot in every Arab hand. But we must strive to ensure that the hand that holds the ballot can write; that it is not shriveled from cold or malnutrition; that it is engaged in some productive activity, rather than used to beg for food, bribe officials or beat women. For popular votes to matter, a whole infrastructure of justice and social empowerment must gradually be created.

Courts must be strengthened, judges trained. Conflict of interest legislation, environmental lawmaking, land registries and resource management systems, are critical mechanisms to clarify property rights and facilitate responsible investment. We must, in short, prioritize governance over government.

Set against the urgency of ending conflict and the white-hot option of military action, legal measures may seem on the bland side. But if we wish Arab societies well, if we want to avoid future Syrias, then we must have the courage – and the vision – to be boring.

Irene Khan
GLOBAL POST, October 2013

 

JUSTICE IS SCARCE IN ARAB COUNTRIES WHERE THE RULE OF LAW IS ABSENT

 

KENYA: ELECTIONS FOR PEACE

In 2007, up to 1,500 Kenyans died in post-electoral violence. As many as a quarter of a million were displaced. In early 2013, the prospect of another election triggered widespread fears that the tragedy would be repeated. That vote, however, passed off peacefully.

The explanation is down to the rule of law: the intervening years saw the adoption of an inclusive Constitution and substantive progress on institutional reform. IDLO engaged with these changes in both the design and implementation phase. We supported the development of laws to implement the Constitution and strengthened the capacity of the judiciary. By the time Kenyans voted in 2013, mechanisms were in place to ensure legality and defuse tension. The Judiciary Working Committee on Election Preparations (JWCEP) benefited from IDLO 's technical assistance before and after the vote.

Thanks to JWCEP's preparatory work, the Kenyan judiciary succeeded in ruling on all election petitions within the legal deadline of six months - compared to almost five years previously. IDLO 's training and legal research in the first half of 2013 led to a marked improvement in the quality of judgments.

Over 190 petitions were filed across the courts in Kenya – from the magistrates' court up to the Supreme Court. This week, high court judges completed the last of the 118 petitions before them

Willy Mutunga, Chief Justice of Kenya, October 2013

Kenya - Photo by Thomas Havel

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SOMALIA - LEGAL TOOLS FOR RECONSTRUCTION

Having supported Somalia's constitutional process and built legitimacy for it among key Somali constituencies, IDLO concentrated in 2013 on developing a framework to enshrine the rule of law.

Our work proceeded in the face of persistent security threats. We collaborated with the Ministry of Justice, the judiciary and other institutions to develop of a two-year Justice Sector Action Plan. The initiative was designed to help strengthen institutional capacity, laying the foundations for a sustainable and effective justice system. The Action Plan was presented to a multilateral conference, jointly convened by the Somali and UK Governments in 2013.


South Sudan - Photo by Fabrizio Demartis

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SOUTH SUDAN: STAYING THE COURSE

IDLO has built a significant record of activity in South Sudan, both in 2013 and over the preceding years: technical support for efforts to create a permanent Constitution, wholesale capacity development of trial judges in the common law system and legal English, development of the Law School in Juba, and support to the Ministry of Justice in its statutory duty to inspect prisons.

South Sudan remains a challenging working environment. The optimism generated by independence, both internally and internationally, largely unraveled with the outbreak of civil war in late 2013. Thousands of people were killed; hundreds of thousands were displaced. Schools and hospitals were destroyed and looted.

IDLO Highlights Report 2013 Download (PDF, 2.6MB)