Bolivia Administration of Justice Program I
April 1993 - December 1997
For Phase I of the Bolivia Administration of Justice (AOJ) program, MSD provided technical assistance for the drafting of Bolivia’s landmark Code of Criminal Procedures (CPC), which was passed in April 1999. MSD assembled a team of lawyers and legal experts to review and revise the CPC, and provided training for justice sector officials to interpret it—including police-prosecutor training. A component of the final approval of the new CPC was creation of a model tribunal. MSD also implemented Phase II of this program, providing technical assistance during the required two-year vacatio-legis.
Project Services
Criminal Code Reform
Instituitonal Strengthening for Anti Corruption
Procedural Transparency
Bolivia Administration of Justice Program II
February 1998 - May 2005
In Phase II of the $4 million, USAID-funded Bolivia Administration of Justice Program, MSD continued to support Bolivia's transition to the new Criminal Procedures Code (CPC). During the two-year "vacatio legis"—a required two-year period during which new laws lie dormant, MSD provided technical assistance in legal development and legislative drafting, institutional strengthening, professional training, public awareness, and small grants management. MSD assisted in monitoring comparative regional reforms, provided analysis to identify complementary laws, and promoted policy coordination among judicial and executive branch agencies. MSD also supported public awareness campaigns launched by civil society organizations that targeted women and the poor in order to grow local demand for accountability in justice sector services. The scope of services was eventually expanded to include an access to justice activity that included the establishment of regional justice service centers throughout the country and the implementation of a forensics laboratory. MSD also provided technical assistance to create and install an automated case tracking system in the Santa Cruz Superior District Court.
Project Services
Criminal Code Reform
Institutional Strengthening for Anti-Corruption
Public Education Campaigns
Central America Regional: Strengthening Labor Justice Program for CAFTA-DR
March 2007 - July 2012
In March 2007, USAID launched the Strengthening Labor Justice Program for CAFTA-DR to provide technical assistance and training to strengthen the capacity and compliance of labor institutions for the CAFTA-DR signatory countries. The Program is a regional effort that includes reform within judicial and academic institutions in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
Under this program, MSD designs and implements electronic case management systems for labor courts to enable judiciaries to quickly and effectively resolve labor cases; provides technical assistance by training judges, lawyers and judicial support staff on electronic case management, oral trial techniques and labor law; and designs and implements a strategy which strengthens and streamlines judiciary procedures through the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)and modernizing documentation systems. In June 2009, the Program was extended to facilitate regional harmonization of labor court management systems. Project accomplishments include: developed an electronic case management system for the Supreme Court of El Salvador; designed and developed a labor law curriculum for judiciary schools in the Dominican Republic; and designed and developed judicial training schools for judges and legal professionals in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador on the reconciliation process, mediation and ADR.
Project Services:
Court Administration
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Procurement
In December of 2011, the Program kicked off the Management System for Labor Courts at the Centro Judicial Integrado de Derecho Privado y Social in San Salvador, as well as a Jurisprudence Indexation System at the Centro de Documentación e Información Jurídical of the Honduran Judiciary. More info
Colombia Access to Justice Program
July 2010 - August 2012
The objective of the USAID-funded Access to Justice Program (AJP) is “to strengthen justice services by ensuring access to legal services; improving access to justice; helping to establish a functioning justice system and reducing impunity especially for people residing in rural, marginalized regions of Colombia heavily affected by violence.” AJP activities therefore focus largely on designated consolidation zones in accordance with the GOC’s National Consolidation Plan (Plan Nacional de Consolidacion, PNC) and the U.S. Government counterpart, the Colombia Strategic Development Initiative (CSDI). MSD implements AJP activities in five core components, which, taken as a whole, will strengthen the GOC justice system in the CSDI regions: 1) Justice Reform; 2) Court Administration and Management; 3) Justice Houses and Alternative Approaches to the Justice House Concept; 4) Alternative Dispute Resolution; and 5) Public Defense.
Project Services:
Justice Houses
Training of Judges and Professionals
Institutional Strengthening
The AJP's bimonthly newsletter, Justicia al Día, offers project updates and other related news. Click here to view the current issue: Justicia al Día No. 15 - October / November 2011
Colombia Human Rights Program
July 2006 - January 2012
MSD provides technical assistance, training, and grant support for civil society and the Government of Colombia to advance initiatives that prevent, protect and respond to human rights abuses. This support serves to enhance and broaden respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. The program strengthens independent oversight capacity and accountability, improves human rights public policies, fosters a culture of human rights, and strengthens civil society’s ability to promote sound public policy and transparency. The project focuses on the needs of geographically isolated, economically marginalized, socially disenfranchised populations, and other vulnerable groups in both urban and rural environments. Project accomplishments inculde: developed a protocol establishing the duties of national authorities to prevent the forced displacement of citizens; created a victims’ assistance protocol; developed system that provided protection for 4,741 at-risk persons; awarded 87 grants to civil society organizations totaling $4.2 million to date.
Project Services:
Early Warning Systems
Witness Protection Programs
Civil Society Strengthening
November / December 2011: HRP held the IX annual Human Rights Moot Court University Competition, which aims to promote an understanding of human rights and International Humanitarian Law while helping law school students polish their research and advocacy skills. For more information click here.
Dominican Republic Justice System Strengthening Project
July 2001 - December 2003
MSD provided technical assistance in strategic planning to improve institutional policies and tighten financial management for both the judiciary and the Public Ministry under the USAID-funded Justice System Strengthening Project. MSD also assisted the Ministry of Justice and the courts to implement the 2002 Criminal Procedures Code, and launched the Judicial Defense Program under the auspices of the Supreme Court of Justice in order to fulfill the guarantee of defense counsel under the reformed code. MSD worked to strengthen the National Judicial School by developing and providing a training curriculum for judges, prosecutors, and public defenders.
Project Services:
Training of Judges and Professionals
Court Administration
Administration of Justice
Ecuador - Technical Evaluation of the Sustainability and Strategic Alliances Program
May 2005 - May 2006
MSD conducted an evaluation of civil society participation in justice sector reforms in Ecuador under the USAID-funded Technical Evaluation of the Sustainability and Strategic Alliances Program Implemented by Fundación Esquel (FE) in Ecuador. MSD assessed the economic, social and institutional sustainability of key civil society projects funded by FE, and particularly the degree to which FE was able to foster alliances within the NGO community and the public sector. This included an evaluation of civil society support for implementation of the criminal accusatory system, local efforts to implement the new criminal code, citizen access to public defense, pro bono legal aid, judicial ethics and disciplinary systems. MSD also evaluated FE's internal management and its efforts in advancing and strengthening civil society capacity to promote judicial reforms, including a review of the small grant program fund and strategic alliances.
Project Services:
Civil Society Strengthening
Guatemala Community-Based Policing Program
February 2006-September 2009
In June 2006, MSD launched the USAID-funded Guatemala Community-Based Policing program (CBP), a partnership-building effort for institutional reforms within the Guatemalan National police. MSD provided technical assistance to the highest levels of government to develop community-based policing strategies and policies in high-crime areas. The project developed proactive policing in crime prevention and investigation, created a universal ideology of community policing in target communities and provided capacity strengthening techniques to develop and monitor crime reporting. In addition, CBP promoted dialogue on community-based policing with key local actors and encouraged police participation in the development and implementation of local crime prevention plans, including those that focused on at-risk youth. The main objectives of the CBP project were to facilitate broad stakeholder involvement; devise a flexible and transparent approach to reforms; invest in the police and the public; identify synergies with other criminal justice initiatives and target capacity-building to ensure sustainability; focus on youth crime prevention through organizational development of local community associations; and combat gangs though a youth leadership program for school age children in high crime neighborhoods.
Project Services:
Community-based Policing
Criminal Investigations
Procedural Transparency
Mexico Rule of Law Program
September 2007-March 2010
From September 2007 to March 2010, this project supported criminal justice reforms in Mexico at both the state and federal levels, promoting the new oral adversarial system. Project components included reform of the criminal justice system, improved access to justice for marginalized populations, and strengthened civil society participation. Through targeted technical assistance and training, MSD provided support to all stages of Mexico’s criminal code reforms and worked to help improve the functions of key justice sector institutions. This included strengthening the coordination between police and prosecutors, professionalizing the public defense and Attorneys General’s office, and enhancing services and representation to the indigenous populations. With additional funding from the Merida Initiative, the project also supported modernized state and federal justice systems and strengthening justice institutions to combat organized crime and support human rights.
Project Services:
Criminal Code Reform
Mediation
Training of Judges and Professionals
Panama Improved Administration of Justice Project
July 2001 - July 2004
MSD trained judges, prosecutors and police in Panama as part of an access to justice program. In order to reduce pre-trial detention, justice sector officials were trained in Alternative Dispute Resolution techniques and evidentiary procedures. Judges received additional training in the U.S. to learn effective strategies for upholding the law while prosecuting crimes. Police training included strategies to follow established guidelines to minimize litigation and promote out of court settlement. Police were also trained to collect and present evidence to support arrests and ensure criminal conviction.
Project Services:
Training of Judges and Professionals
Streamlined Court Procedures
Administration of Justice
