JUSTICE STUDIES CENTER OF THE AMERICAS Report on Activities, REMJA V Washington D.C. – April 2004

A new force in the modernization of America’s judicial systems JSCA

Mission To provide a new impetus for modernizing justice systems throughout the continent To promote the highest standards of respect for and protection of human rights and greater efficiency in the performance of judicial work Strategy To approach changes from a public policy perspective To take advantage of the synergies and economies of scale generated by regional work To create a united regional community to stand behind the changes To take advantage of new technologies

Three Key Goals

To conduct in-depth studies of the region’s justice systems and develop innovative contributions to discussions of judicial reform. 1.

JSCA and Criminal Justice JSCA is developing a second-generation strategy to give renewed force to criminal procedure reforms in the region on the basis of: Analyzing the specific problems that the reforms are facing Producing specific information on the reforms Contributing to debate at the local level Strengthening the local groups that originally backed the reforms Detecting and adopting the best practices Strengthening a regional movement  Follow-up Project on Criminal Procedure Reform in the Americas

The main findings have been: In matters of substance: Public prosecutor’s offices have not played as dynamic a role as originally expected Marginal role played by orality Weakness of the guarantee function Formal defense The main problems are located in the area of management. Traditional training systems are not functioning. Constant political support and external evaluations are indispensable.

JSCA has achieved the following as a result of its use of this strategy JSCA has managed to position itself as an important actor in criminal justice reforms in most countries in Latin America. JSCA offers technical assistance in several of those countries in order to introduce the corrections that ongoing reforms require. Our reports are being considered by the countries that are getting involved in reform processes. JSCA has developed a regional training program to educate local leaders about how these reforms can be successfully managed.

Criminal reforms and gender Criminal reforms and indigenous communities Criminal prosecution Criminal Procedure in the Caribbean  This work has led us to consider other areas of action:  We have also carried out studies of: Justice and Civil Society Women’s Rights Tribunals Justice and Racial Discrimination

Three Key Goals To strengthen regional cooperation and the exchange of experiences among key organizations in the justice sector. 2.

Main Projects This program is designed to optimize and strengthen the process of implementing criminal justice reform in the Americas through the presentation of knowledge, tools and skills that will allow a group of regional leaders to promote innovative approaches to and practices associated with the resolution of specific problems. This program is being supported by CIDA.  InterAmerican Program for Training Trainers for Criminal Procedure Reform  The program consists of 4 stages: o Basic Course: Completed o Intermediate Course via E- Learning: In progress o Advanced Course o Local Repetitions

Program Participants 146 people from 20 countries applied to the training program. Of these, 53 were selected to participate. 73 people from 19 countries registered for the Basic Course Average Score How would you rate the quality of the activity in general? %54.2%35.4% General Evaluation (Scale of 1 to 5)

Other Training Activities 500 justice system operators participated in a training program directed towards judges and prosecutors in Ecuador. JSCA is participating in a distance learning training program along with the World Bank Institute and the General Council of the Judicial Branch of Spain. It is directed towards participants in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela and will feature the participation of 150 people. The JSCA Training Area has an internship program for students, young professionals and senior professionals. At least 22 people from 10 countries in the region and 3 European countries have held internships at JSCA.

Main Projects  Networks and Bilateral Cooperation Red OSC, a network of civil society organizations that work on issues of justice in the Americas composed of 31 organizations from 17 countries in the region Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutor’s Offices Summit System of Supreme Court Chief Justices of Ibero-America Association of Public Defender’s Offices JSCA has signed 29 cooperation agreements with public institutions in the justice sector (Supreme Courts, public prosecutor’s offices, public defender’s offices, and others) in countries throughout the Americas. JSCA has signed work agreements with 8 private international institutions that conduct research in the area of judicial public policy.

Main Projects  Local and International Events JSCA has participated in 171 events, 72 of which it has organized, co-organized and/or sponsored. We have made presentations on our organization, programs and/or research projects at 129 events in 19 countries in the region. Our seminars feature an average of 170 participants who come from countries all over the region.

Three Key Goals To generate and distribute instruments designed to improve the quality of available information on justice in the Americas. 3.

Main Projects As a permanent and active distribution channel, JSCA is connected to the world through its Website, This tool concentrates and compiles all of the work that JSCA carries out in order to meet its three key goals. The Website contains more than 1,114 documents, approximately 1,200 links, more than 300 news articles, information on 274 events and 259 reviews of books and other publications from the 34 OAS member states. 104,701 sessions were logged on the Website in 2003, an average of 287 visits per day, 11% more than in ,061 visits were logged during the first quarter of 2004, an average of 311 visits per day. The Site contains 600 pages.  Generation and Distribution of Information

Access to and Improvement of Judicial Information One of the JSCA’s fundamental strategic objectives is to improve the quality and accessibility of information on judicial systems and provide incentives for its use in decision-making and control processes. We believe that there is a need to break the vicious circle by which information is not used because it is of poor quality and information is of poor quality because it is not used. We are carrying out the following actions in this area : Analyzing the judicial information needed by those who govern the institutions, academic, the media, and users in general. Collecting, verifying and distributing existing information. Elaborating instruments that allow for the development of adequate information systems. Developing seminars, workshops and courses to promote the use of information. Generating an Index of Online Access to Information.

Main Electronic and Print Publications o Sistemas Judiciales Journal

Main Electronic and Print Publications o Nexus Newsletter 34 issues of the Nexus Newsletter, which is distributed to 5,028 people, have been published by JSCA.

Main Electronic and Print Publications o Other Publications

Plan for 2004 JSCA will continue to work to meet its three key goals. The consultations made with the people with whom we work on a regular basis in various countries in the region were used to elaborate a plan for future activities. This document was submitted to our Board of Directors for review.

Financial Report

Financial Situation 2003

Composition and Distribution of Expenditures

Projection for 2004 SOURCES INCOME % EXPENDITURES % INITIAL BALANCE 241,39913% USAID700,00038%700,00041% CIDA520,00029%507,85530% FORD37,5002%56,5343% IDB60,0003%81,0125% Government of Chile80,0004%80,0005% HEWLETT100,0005%186,87011% OTHER SOURCES80,0004%80,0005% TOTAL1,818,899100%1,692,271100%

To diversify sources of funding by securing commitments to support JSCA activities from the institution’s member states. To give more stability to JSCA’s financing (the current projects are very short-term, which affects the profile of JSCA staff members). To increase available resources for JSCA activities, which will allow the institution to increase its geographic coverage and the areas in which it works. MAIN CHALLENGES

We will continue and deepen our efforts to finance a significant part of our activities through projects and the sale of services. However, we cannot finance all of the organization’s operational costs and the production of the public goods (i.e. information) that it offers. We therefore require support from member states that can use their financial contributions to demonstrate political support for the work that we are doing. This support can come in the form of: –Direct voluntary contributions to JSCA –The creation of local funds for supporting judicial modernization activities to which national institutions linked to justice could apply. JSCA would control the distribution of said funds JSCA’s Proposal

Our Presence in the Region

Argentina: Follow-up, Statistics, Red Osc, Access, Children’s Rights Uruguay: Children’s Rights Paraguay: Red Osc, Follow-up Brazil: Discrimination, Red Osc, Children, Court Management Bolivia: Follow-up, Red Osc Venezuela: Follow-up, Red Osc Trinidad and Tobago: Follow-up Barbados: Follow-up Eastern Caribbean: Follow-up, Statistics Jamaica: Follow-up Dominican Republic: Red Osc, Discrimination Haiti: Red Osc Honduras: Gender, Follow-up, Red Osc Belize: Statistics Mexico: Red Osc, Training, CPC Reform Support United States: Red Osc, Children’s Rights Chile: Follow-up, Gender, Women’s Rights Tribunals, Statistics, Red Osc, Access, Children’s Rights Peru: Red Osc, Access, Children’s Rights, Training for Judicial Operators Ecuador: Follow-up, Gender, Red Osc, Training for Judicial Operators Colombia: Discrimination, Statistics, Red Osc Panama: Red Osc Costa Rica:Follow-up, Statistics Nicaragua: Follow-up El Salvador: Follow-up, Statistics, Red Osc Guatemala: Follow-up, Gender, Statistics, Red Osc