Journalists and judges strengthen ties in Kyrgyzstan
In what was once a distant connection, journalists and members of the judiciary in Kyrgyzstan are strengthening ties under IDLO’s project funded by USAID aiming to build public trust.
Public trust and confidence in justice sector institutions is key to investment and commercial transactions, and necessary for sustainable development and social change. IDLO is engaged in programming that enhances the integrity and capacity of such institutions to promote good governance by holding State and other constituencies, including the private sector, accountable, ultimately leading to people’s confidence in the laws and institutions that are meant to serve them.
In what was once a distant connection, journalists and members of the judiciary in Kyrgyzstan are strengthening ties under IDLO’s project funded by USAID aiming to build public trust.
Held annually on the occasion of the organization’s Assembly of Parties, IDLO’s highest decision-making governance body, the Partnership Forum took place from November 20 – 21 in Rome to inspire and stimulate dialogue between key actors around the obstacles and opportunities for the rule of law.
“There are silver threads which the international community has woven into a tapestry known as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” remarked IDLO’s Director-General Irene Khan at the opening of IDLO’s 2018 Partnership Forum. “At the heart of this tapestry is access to justice and the rule of law.”
The forthcoming Annual Meeting of the Assembly of Parties and Partnership Forum 2018 will take place on November 20 and 21, 2018.
Despite the positive momentum from Ukraine’s justice sector reforms, there has been a lack of court judgments in top corruption cases, underscoring the need for greater institutional efficiency, transparency and independence in the process of prosecution. As corruption cases often involve complex financial schemes with elements of money-laundering, there is a strong need to delegate them to a specialized court. In response to these needs, the High Anti-Corruption Court was formally established on April 11th, 2019.
The Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic is now publicizing incidents of alleged out-of-process interferences in judicial activities online. The initiative represents an important measure in the context of the judiciary’s broader efforts to increase transparency and inform the public, and also works to prevent any undue influence or pressure on judges.
A resolution adopted by the Ukrainian government in May 2018, drafted with support from IDLO, is paving the way for a national legal framework that will underpin an innovative e-governance system connecting all electronic public registers across the country.
Growing insecurity and instability, recurring and protracted conflict and violence, increasing inequality, exclusion and discrimination, deterioration of international human rights and humanitarian norms, all signal the importance of strengthening the rule of law in today’s rapidly changing world. Notably, Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development seeks to promote peace, justice and strong institutions.
The Kyrgyz Republic has made significant strides in working toward improvements to a justice system shaken to the core following the 2010 Revolution. While a wholesale reselection process of judges changed the landscape and provided hope for real change, it also created a judiciary staffed with many inexperienced, under-skilled first-time judges who are more easily exposed to negative influences - both perceived and real. Consequently, the public mistrusts the judiciary and holds a negative perception of it being corrupt, inefficient and dependent on other branches of government.