www.cejamericas.org

1 Executive Summary
2 Main Conclusions and Recommendations

1 Executive Summary

Rule of law - the acceptance across society of the fundamental principle that laws rather than rulers are the primary basis for social decision-making - is the pillar of the social contract and a modern governance system. A predictable legal system with fair, accessible and effective judicial institutions is essential for the protection of citizens against the arbitrary use of state authority or lawless acts by others. In many developing countries, weak legal institutions and lack of rule of law endanger development and contribute to poverty.

The CIDA Americas Branch-funded Institutional Strengthening in Criminal Justice Reform (ISCJR) project arose from commitments made by Canada at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City concerning "Justice, Rule of Law and Security of the Individual", which recognized that equal access to independent, impartial and timely justice is a cornerstone of democracy and economic and social development. The goal of the ISCJR project is to contribute to the change of practices in the Criminal Justice System to achieve greater transparency and efficiency, as well as better conditions for the respect of the human rights of women and men. The purpose of the ISCJPR project is to encourage innovative focuses and practices aimed at resolving concrete problems in implementing criminal justice reforms in certain Latin American countries.

The Mid-term Operational Review of the CIDA-funded Justice Studies Center of the America’s (JSCA) Institutional Strengthening of Criminal Justice Reform (ISCJR) project focused on the key issues of whether the initiative is:

• Consistent with CIDA’s development assistance priorities;
• Contributes to the national governments’ criminal justice reform priorities; and
• Is achieving the planned outputs, outcomes and impact.

Research and fieldwork for the Mid-term Operational Review was carried out from 1-25 February 2006. The Review Consultant tested the results of the project in Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia through interviews with Canadian officials, ex-students who had completed courses presented by JSCA, and senior authorities of each country’s judicial system.

Canadian officials in Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia were not always fully aware of CIDA’s role in funding JSCA or JSCA’s activities, but were strongly supportive of Canadian involvement in and support to justice reform, identifying improvements in the sector as critical for better security, governance, protection of human rights and each country’s overall development progress. Interviews with other donors, past JSCA trainees and national justice system authorities provoked consistently positive responses about the value of the courses offered, the success in replicating them in each country, and the useful role played by JSCA in providing practical training and research support to national justice reform efforts.

The JSCA methodology for replicating the courses in the course graduates’ home countries is unique and proven to be highly cost-effective. Each course participant is asked to prepare a paper on how the course content applies to their specific circumstances and if interested to present a proposal for replicating the course in their country. A limited number of the best proposals are selected. In Guatemala a replication-training course for 48 judges in Quezaltenango on the basic techniques of the adversarial system was presented at a cost of $7,500. The Supreme Court of Guatemala, responsible for court administration, is anxious to obtain JSCA technical support for more replication courses. The President of the Supreme Court of Honduras after similarly successful experiences has a long list of new proposals she wants to discuss with JSCA. The Director of Honduras’s national system of public defenders and the Attorney General of Bolivia want JSCA to help with courses for new professional staff. There is strong demand for JSCA’s help in the three countries visited, all of which are engaged in large-scale justice reform programs with international support.

JSCA’s trainee selection strategy puts a premium on recruiting course participants who are relatively young mid-career professionals, bright, dynamic and committed to establishing the rule of law in their societies. They have formed the nucleus of an impressive network of Latin American judicial thinkers who will become the region’s next generation of senior justice system managers.

JSCA integrates its research into training. The findings of JSCA’s gender and indigenous peoples studies were used to design new training modules that incorporated these thematic areas into the course syllabus. JSCA has invested heavily in information technology and offers a six month e-learning course that graduates who were interviewed found convenient, well-designed and user friendly with easy access to instructors.

The ISCJR project monitor had previously reported that the project was well-managed and producing results beyond expectations. The Mid-term Operational Review confirmed his reports that JSCA was exceeding the original project output targets. JSCA has strong program and financial management and its operations are efficient and transparent. Financial and information management systems are state-of-the art, capable of producing complete and up-to-the-minute reports on project progress and financial disbursements ((by activity, result or cost center) and capable of tracking each trainee’s individual progress not only by course, but by separate course module. Learning is valued and feedback/evaluation processes are built into training and research programs, the products of which have achieved recognition throughout the Latin American region for their high quality, relevance and timeliness.

JSCA is still a young, small organization. It is well on the road to consolidating itself as a regional center of excellence, but needs to address as a priority the challenge of its long-term fiscal sustainability. JSCA’s was established with a financial base of only voluntary contributions from member States. Although JSCA has built up a small reserve fund, it has yet to create a significant endowment fund. JSCA has supplemented voluntary contributions with donor funding for cooperation projects, cost recoverable technical assistance, tuition fees etc., however, it has become predictably reliant on short-term project funding from mostly the USA and Canada (85% of its budget). JSCA’s dependency on project financing could lead to problems in covering core costs and in the long-term result in chasing contracts outside JSCA’s core competency to increase cash flow. JSCA should stick to doing what it knows how to do well.

The Center has prepared a long-term financing plan for OAS consideration, which, once approved in the next few months, should resolve the structural fiscal dilemma with institutional funding from the OAS or member States, and by initiating a campaign for more diversified funding from more donors. This campaign should include a call for contributions to create an adequate endowment fund.

While CIDA will need to monitor progress on the fiscal front, it has obtained excellent value-for-money from its investment in JSCA in a sector in which bilateral donors find it difficult to work. CIDA should consider continued funding of the Center, which is ready to propose a longer-term, higher budget project to the Agency.


2 Main Conclusions and Recommendations

The ISCJR project is consistent with a key development priority for Latin American countries. JSCR’s training and research programs are valued throughout the region. The training methodology is effective and benefits from continuous process of evaluation and revision. The replication projects significantly multiply the impact of JSCA’s training programs.

The ISCJR project objectives are practical, relevant and important to successful justice reform programs.

The ISCJR project management demonstrates high levels of efficiency, effectiveness and economy.

The ISCJR is an outstanding example of successful South/South cooperation, using the justice reform experiences of Chile and Argentina as models in the design of new approaches to reforms in other Latin American countries.

JSCR’s financial management and control, procurement and contracting, trainee selection and evaluation, and training and research quality control systems and procedures are good. JSCR is well managed and operates efficiently. Management is dynamic and competent-- a rare example of avocation and vocation coming together to produce a first class team of professionals.

JSCR’s challenge will be to address its tight cash flow situation without diluting its mandate by taking on activities outside its core competency in the search for more revenue (i.e. become a consulting company). The value-added of JSCR is providing continuing education and training support to career justice system professionals working to implement justice reform programs in the Americas.


JSCA should continue to avoid highly theoretical or purely academic research. JSCR’s research program should remain focused on identifying practical gaps in the formal legal education system and preparing justice practioners for their future roles and responsibilities by designing remedial training courses to overcome these deficiencies in national justice education programs.

JSCA’s main clients are the national authorities responsible for implementing justice reform in the each of the Center’s member states. JSCA should sign agreements with the Justice Branch of each of its cooperating countries to formalize this relationship.

JSCA should continue to consolidate its position as a center of excellence and leader in justice reform studies in Latin America and the world. CIDA should be prepared to consider continuing its relationship with JSCA, which is prepared to present a new proposal to the Agency. CIDA should consider adopting a five-year program-based contribution, which will provide the opportunity to support JCSA’s integrated set of program activities instead of a limited set of activities. Priority could be given to the poorer, less developed countries of the region that are of more interest to CIDA.

There would also be some value in establishing a donor committee to discuss how to support the implementation of JSCA’s long-term financing strategy. As one of JSCA’s major donors, Canada could consider taking a lead role in setting up this committee. Canada in this case should include representatives of CIDA, the Canadian Mission to the OAS and/or DFAIT, and the Department of Justice. Quota assessments or member contributions would not normally be included in CIDA’s budget, but rather would be channeled through DFAIT’s Grants and Contributions or possibly even Justice Canada’s main estimates as is the case of PAHO (Health Canada) or the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (Agriculture Canada) where Canada’s contribution is managed by the lead government department.