Judicial Reform Projects Sponsored by
International
Donors in Egypt and
Turkey
Majid Mohammadi
To find a list of internationally funded projects on
judicial reform, the best way is to look at aid agencies’ websites and
talk to
the program managers of these agencies.
Judicial
reform projects are usually categorized under democracy and governance
or
democratic governance
,
rule of law
and
public sector reform sections of aid programs
.
In
some categorizations they are considered as part of democracy and human
rights
programs
.
Aids
are usually coming from Western countries and institutions (the
U.S.,
Canada, and European Union)
through
implementing partners in the region or abroad.
Despite some
common goals, any of the international donors have its own agenda.
Under
judicial and legal reform, MEPI is focused on the continuing education
of
public defenders, prosecutors, and judges on critical principles of
code reform
for criminal and civil law, constitutional reform, human rights, and
methods to
preserve judicial independence
.
World Bank’s judicial reform projects are
economically motivated and are pursued to achieve sustainable and
comprehensive
development. The Bank focuses on the role of law in economic
development and
prompts recipient countries to promote the rule of law as a
sine
qua non of
development. In the bank’s definition, the rule of law prevails where
(1) the
government itself is bound by the law; (2) all in society are treated
equally
under the law; (3) the government authorities, including the judiciary,
protect
the human dignity of its citizens; and (4) justice is accessible for
its
citizens.
USAID
primary focus is on accelerating economic growth that is considered
essential
to strengthening those Middle Eastern countries that are the
U.S.
allies as
stable and prosperous countries
.
This focus goes back to the era that economic development was the main
agenda
and USAID was a pioneer in this respect.
Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) situates its involvement in
legal and
judicial reform as part of the priority it attaches to promoting human
rights,
democratic development and good governance to achieve sustainable
development
.
From CIDA’s point of view, legal and judicial programming contributes
to the
realization of other CIDA priorities such as the integration of women
in
development, private sector development, and environmental protection
.
Main focus of UNDP (United Nations
Development Program) is on institutional reform of courts. UNDP’s
judicial reform projects are
narrowly
tailored to address management issues and do
not
address legal education in partnership with local law schools in any
depth. To the extent that law reform is a component of these projects,
it has
been conducted only in the field of commercial relations.
Some of the
international aid agencies are totally absent from sponsoring good
governance
and democratization projects in the
Middle East.
This could be explained partially due to their low budget compared to
USAID or
MEPI and partially due to their different priorities. AUSAID
(Australian Agency
for International Development) works mostly in the Pacific and East
Asian
region. AUSAID’s efforts in the area of governance in the Middle East
region
are limited to post-conflict situations (
Iraq,
Afghanistan and
Palestine).
DFID (British Department for International
Development) is focused on the most fundamental needs like education
and
nutrition to aid poor countries to get rid of extreme poverty
.
GTZ (German Agency for Development Cooperation) supports governments
and public
organizations in developing and improving rule-of-law structures that
enable
all actors to comply with these structures, and in implementing
judicial and
legal reforms but its judicial reform projects in the Middle East
region only
include
Palestine.
African
Development Bank and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development
are mainly
focused on economic development and where do allocate funds for good
governance
programs
,
Middle
Eastern countries are not among the receivers
.
Expected results
of these projects, based on a democracy promotion approach, include
increased
institutional capacity of civil society organizations, increased
participation
in local decision-making and greater transparency and efficiency in the
judicial sector
.
From a
developmental approach, the expected results would be
building
consensus for the need for judicial reform with a focus on
improving access to justice to the poor,
building
networks in the justices sector,
improve access
to information, and improve quality of judicial and legal
education.
In general, the
programs listed below are expected to significantly increase the
capacity of
the judiciary in
Turkey
and
Egypt
to carry
out their institutional tasks, to design and carry out reforms in its
various
areas of competence, formulate strategies to address the most pressing
obstacles and form a network of professionals and decision-makers to
advocate
for reform.
These
projects have been mostly designed
and implemented during the 1990’s and 2000’s periods due to the huge
lag
between developmental programs in the areas of agriculture, energy,
finance,
transportation, communication, health and education that go back to
1950’s to
the present time, and good governance projects. After decades of
failures of
developmental projects in authoritarian states, international community
reached
to this point that development will not be sustainable without reform
in the
areas of law, justice and public administration. Compared to billions
of
dollars spent on security and defense and hundreds of millions of
dollars spent
on infrastructural development, mostly funded (granted or loaned) by
the
international donors, millions of dollars spent on good governance is
not
noticeable.
Most of the
internationally funded judicial reform projects in
Turkey
are sponsored by the
European countries and institutions. By funding these projects, Europe
expects
Turkey to
improve the functioning and efficiency
of its judiciary in line with the European standards shared by the
European
Commission and the Council of Europe and draw on good practice in
Europe. It also gives this opportunity to
Turkey
to align
the conditions in its judicial system with the standards developed by
the UN as
well as the Council of Europe
.
Therefore
the direction of reform in
Turkey
is much more clear compared to the direction of judicial reform in
Egypt.
Egypt
receives almost all of its grants from the American governmental and
private
sector organizations. These organizations have different agenda:
democracy
promotion and/or helping the
U.S.
allies in the region in administrative affairs.
I
have not detailed the financial aspect of judicial reform for each
donor in
this piece, since this type of information was not available. Some of
the
figures in this report are approximate.
1 Judicial
Reform Projects in Egypt
1.1
Program Conference
on reforming the judicial systems in the Arab world (Bahrain);
Judicial Systems in the 21st Century
Sponsor
MEPI
Implementing Bahraini Government
Partners
Budget
NA
Duration
2003
Goal
To launch discussion and action
to reform judicial systems in the Arab world
1.2 Program
Roadmap
for Judicial Reform in Egypt
in accordance with International Standards
Institution
NED
Implementing Arab
Center for the Independence
of the Judiciary and the Legal
Partner
Profession (ACIJLP)
Budget
$32,000
Duration
2004
Goal
To hold a series of
workshops for reform minded judges, lawyers,
legislators and human rights
activists to identify the key challenges to judicial reform in
Egypt;
formulate strategies to address the most pressing obstacles and form a
network
of professionals and decision-makers to advocate for reform
.
1.3 Program
Egypt
Regional Democracy Initiative
Sponsor
USAID
Implementing
NCSC (
National Center for State Courts)
Partner(s)
Budget
NA
Duration
2006
Goal
To help USAID/Cairo and
Regional Missions implement their Strategic Objectives in the area of
Justice.
Potential project components are: Strengthening the Justice Sector;
Protecting
Human Rights; Strengthening the Legislative Function/Legal Framework
1.4 Program
Middle
East Legal Development
Initiative (Algeria,
Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian
Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen)
Sponsor
MEPI
Implementing
American
Bar Association and Institute for the Study and Development of
Legal Systems
Partner
Budget
FY03
$2,900,979/FY04 $2,140,000 (is not broken down by countries)
Goal
This program educates public
defenders, prosecutors, and judges on critical principles of code
reform for
criminal and civil law, constitutional reform, human rights, and
methods to
preserve judicial independence. It fosters the creation of a Middle
East
Justice Institute, a regional framework to support capacity development
of
individuals and organizations working in the judicial and legal sphere.
1.5 Program
The
Second Arab Justice Conference: Supporting and Promoting the Independence of
Judiciary
Sponsor
OHCHR
& UNDP
Implementing
Arab Center for the Independence
of the Judiciary and the Legal
Partner(s)
Profession
(ACIJLP)
Budget
NA
Year
2003
Goal
1.6
Program Arab
Fund Member Countries Training (Egypt,
Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco)
Sponsor
IDLO (International Development Law
Organization)
Implementing Arab
Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD),
Partner(s)
Budget
NA
Duration
2002
Goal
To strengthen the Arab legal
and related professionals in specific aspects of law and institutions
including, judicial reform, e-commerce, e-government, global trade and
WTO, BOT
and infrastructure development through training workshops
1.7 Program Administration
of Justice Support
(AOJS I & II) in Egypt
Sponsor
USAID
Implementing
IDLO,
America-Mideast
Educational and Training Services, Inc.
Partner(s)
(AMIDEAST), the
National
Center
for State Courts (NCSC), and Intercom Enterprises (Intercom)
Budget
$ 48,000,000 (2006), 45, 000,000
(2007)
Duration
1996-2009
Goal
To provide leadership
nationally and internationally in advancing the rule of law and justice
sector
reform, provide technical leadership in court administration, court
automation
and information delivery technologies, change management in courts, and
judicial training; improving the efficiency and effectiveness of civil
courts,
integrating women into the judiciary, improving access to justice, and
promoting judicial independence.
1.8
Program Regional
Judicial Education Project
Sponsor
U.S.
Department
of State
Implementing America-Mideast Educational and Training
Services, Inc. (AMIDEAST)
Partner(s)
Budget
NA
Duration
2001–2002
Goal
To improve
the quality of training of judicial educators in numerous countries
including
Egypt
through
workshops and resources for judicial educators
1.9
Program Legal
Rights Project
(LRP)
Sponsor
U.S.
Agency for
International Development
Implementing America-Mideast Educational and Training
Services, Inc. (AMIDEAST)
Partner(s)
Region
Middle East and
North Africa
Duration
1993–1999
Goal
Improve
jurist proficiency in legal English; enhance knowledge of legal rights
political application through training and scholarships for Egyptian
legal
professionals
1.10 Program
Preparing
Future Generation of Proficient
Human Rights Lawyers
Sponsor
CIDA
(Canadian International Development Agency)
Implementing
Arab Center
for the
Independence
of the Judiciary
Partner(s)
Budget
$
40479
Duration
1996-1997
Goal
To train 180 young lawyers and
law students to through establishing a database and library on access
to
valuable legal and human rights information
1.11 Program
Collaborative
Civil and Criminal Justice
Reform Project
Sponsor
ISDLS
(The Institute for the Study and Development of Legal Systems)
Implementing
Egyptian
Ministry of Justice
Partner(s)
Budget
Around
$ 4,000,000
Duration
1993-2006
Goal
To address the increasing
caseload and complexity of disputes that overburdened the Egyptian
courts and
made the development of modernized procedures necessary
.
1.12 Program
Commercial,
Judicial, and Legal Reform (Morocco,
Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories,
Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE)
Sponsor
MEPI
Implementing
Partner (s)
Budget
FY03
$3,900,000, FY04 $600000 (is not broken down by countries)
Duration
2003-2004
Goal
The program works to improve
the business environment throughout the
Middle
East
by assisting political, judicial, regulatory, and commercial leaders to
make
improvements to their policies, laws, and organizational structures.
The
program has conducted a variety of activities, including conferences
and
short-term consultation programs targeted at judges, lawyers,
policymakers, and
business leaders throughout the region
.
1.13 Program
Pilot Project
for Capacity
Building
in Human Rights
Sponsors
UNDP,
Netherlands Embassy, Danish
Embassy
and Ford Foundation
Implementing
Egyptian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
Partner(s)
Budget
$ 911,500
Duration
1999-2004
Goal
Spread
knowledge about Citizen’s rights according to
Egypt’s legal framework.
Provide training in human rights issues for police & prosecutors
and for
upper & middle level judges in human rights issues. Provide Human
Rights
information to the Media. Provide Technical Support to Police for
modern
techniques of investigation. Create a website for the Ministry of
Justice.
Build the government’s capacity to meet its reporting obligations under
the
requirements of UN treaties and conventions. Support to National
Council for
Human Rights
.
1.14
Program Promoting the Rule of Law and
Integrity
Sponsors
UNDP
Implementing
IFES (International
Foundation for Election
Systems) and ACRLI (
Arab
Center for the
Rule of
Law and Integrity)
Partner(s)
Budget
NA
Duration
2005-2007
Goal
To
spark numerous national and regional reform initiatives through
accessing
accurate baseline information, drawing on regional and global lessons
learned
on good governance, and articulating clear priorities to 1) support the
development and dissemination of solid research through which reform
progress
within country and regional contexts can be measured on an ongoing
basis, 2) promote
knowledge of the key steps needed to build governing systems based on
the rule
of law and integrity, and 3) enrich Arab and international debates on
the
evolving reform process in the Arab region and strengthen regional
reform
networks. This project will issue a series of strategic reform reports
on
impartial judiciary as one of the key pillars of sustainable democratic
systems
to assess the current state of these institutions in
Egypt,
Iraq,
Jordan,
Lebanon,
and
Morocco
in light of principles of good governance and human rights, and will
make
recommendations for reform. Through these reports, the PRLI project
hopes to
develop the basis for a systematic framework for annual monitoring and
reporting on the rule of law and integrity across the Arab world
.
2 Judicial
Reform projects in Turkey
2.1 Program
Judicial
Modernization and Penal Reform
Sponsor
Council
of
Europe
Implementing Turkish Government
Partner
Budget
10
million Euros
Duration
2003-2005
Goal
To enable the managers of the
Justice Academy of Turkey to better understand how the training system
for
judges, prosecutors and judicial staff functions in similar European
institutions and to visit the main European institutions based in
Strasbourg
(Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights, European
Parliament) and
Luxembourg (the European Court of Justice), and have a sense of which
methods
are used by them (training methods used, design of a training strategy,
administrative organization, etc); the drafting of
new
curriculum for the initial (pre-service) training of judges
and prosecutors of both judiciary and administrative courts.
This
project also includes the development of a forensic medicine institute
and support
to the penitentiary through assistance for the architectural structure
of
prisons, training of human resources involved in the penitentiary, and
prison
management and treatment of inmates.
2.2
Program EU/Phare Twinning
Covenant
Domstolsverket
Sponsor
SIDA
(The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency)
Implementing
Domstolsverket
- The Swedish National Courts Administration
Partner(s)
Budget
NA
Duration
2006
Goal
To establish Courts of Appeal
in
Turkey
in order to align the functioning and effectiveness of judiciary with
EU
standards. The purpose is to provide that the Court of Appeals are
functioning
effectively under the new legislation by creating and accomplishing
training
programs for forthcoming judges, prosecutors and auxiliary staff
.
2.3 Program
Pre-study in Turkey
on Development of the Judiciary
Sponsor
SIDA
Implementing
Swedish
National Courts Administration (SNCA),
Partner(s)
Ministry
of Justice of
Turkey
Budget
NA
Duration
2006
Goal
To evaluate and examine
possible areas of cooperation and mutual interest between Turkish and
Swedish
judiciary systems
2.4 Program
Judicial
Sector Exchange Program
Sponsor
DRL (Bureau of Democracy, Human
Rights and
Labor, U.S. Department of State)
Implementing
Partner(s)
Budget
$
400000
Duration
2001-2002
Goal To
support judicial sector exchange programs to address Turkey’s
most serious human rights problems. In Turkey,
U.S.
participants should conduct workshops, seminars, and consultations on
mechanisms in our two legal systems to protect freedom of expression,
among other topics. It is expected that the in-country activities would
include a component to reach out to a wider audience so that the
project is not limited only to participants in the U.S.
program. In addition, the program in Turkey would include the
design and development of a mid-career professional training module for
judges and prosecutors to be administered by the training department at
the Ministry of Justice.
2.5 Program
Support
to the Establishment of Courts of
Appeal
Sponsor
EU
Development Projects
Implementing
Brussels
5 - EC institutions
Partner
Budget
EUR
800 000
Duration
2005-2006
Goal
To strengthen the Ministry of
Justice's technical capacity to design, implement and monitor its IT
project
for a national judicial network and to increase its capacity to monitor
the
performance of the judiciary system. The project aims to provide TA and
highly
specialized IT training to IT department for network and TA and
training in
judicial statistics and IT for the GD for Judicial Records and
Statistics.
2.6 Program
Judicial
Reform for Improving Governance in
Turkey
Sponsor
World
Bank
Implementing
Partner(s)
Budget
NA
Duration
2004
Goal
Through
a six step integrated and participatory process, this program is to
draft an
action plan for judicial reform in Turkey by the contributions
of a
broad spectrum of judicial reform specialists, practitioners, and
representatives.
2.7
Program Strengthening Human
Rights Capacity
in Turkey
Sponsor
SIDA
Implementing
Raoul
Wallenberg Institute
of Human
Rights and
Humanitarian Law
Partner(s)
Budget
SEK
30 626 000
Duration
2003-2006
Goal
To support and enhance the
reform process currently underway in
Turkey, which aims at
strengthening
the protection of human rights, rule of law and democracy. The main
objective
is to improve the respect for human rights in the Turkish court system.
(For
2006-8 a significantly increased program with the same objectives is
under
preparation. It will focus on rights for minorities, women and people
with
disabilities.)
2.8 Program
Judicial
Reform Learning Program in Turkey
Sponsor
World
Bank
Implementing PREM and LEG
Partner(s)
Budget
NA
Duration
Oct.-Dec.2004
Goal
Learning related to a number of
issues: (i) case management and other procedural reforms to raise the
efficiency of the courts, (ii) what the judiciary can do to
facilitate
accession to the EU, (iii) access to justice for all, (iv) different
experiences of Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) mechanisms, and
(v) how
judicial reforms can create an atmosphere that promotes transparent
procedures
for the appointment, promotion, disciplining and removal of judges.
2.9 Program
Strengthening of the Judiciary I Southeast
Europe (Albania,
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, FYROM, Greece, Romania,
Turkey and where
possible Yugoslavia)
Sponsor
SELDI
(Southeast European Legal Development Initiative)
Implementing
The
International Development Law Institute
Partner(s)
Budget
NA
Duration
2000
Goal
To
contribute towards the strengthening of the judiciary in its
fundamental role
in democratization and economic reconstruction of the countries of the
Region;
to contribute to improving the efficiency of the judiciary – in line
with the
standards of the European Union and the objectives of the Stability
Pact – and
create cohesion and collaboration between the Judicial Training
Institutes and
legal professionals of the Region.