NEWS BULLETIN. Open Justice Project USAID LAUNCHES A NEW JUDICIAL REFORM PROJECT IN MOLDOVA MAY AUGUST 2017

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1 NEWS BULLETIN MAY AUGUST 2017 USAID LAUNCHES A NEW JUDICIAL REFORM PROJECT IN MOLDOVA In June 2017, USAID s conducted its official Launch Event. The Project aims to strengthen and improve the administration and transparency of institutions in the justice sector by using modern technologies accessible to citizens. The U.S. Ambassador, James D. Pettit, USAID Country Director, Karen Hilliard, Minister of Justice, Vladimir Cebotari, and the Superior Council of Magistracy Chair, Victor Micu, attended the event. Numerous judiciary representatives, development partners, NGOs, and mass media representatives attended as well. Project Chief of Party Cristina Malai welcomes guests and presents the Project activities for the next two years These improvements will require the full support of the Ministry of Justice, the Superior Council of Magistracy, and the courts. Our goal is nothing less than a justice system the Moldovan people can be proud of. His Excellency James D. Pettit U.S. Ambassador to Moldova In his opening speech, Minister of Justice Cebotari emphasized the need to use modern technologies in the justice sector. "The cybernetic system has many undiscovered miracles, but, today, we need to also digitize the services we offer to the community," the Minister declared. The Minister also noted that Open Justice will contribute to the efficient management of court costs and facilitate court optimization efforts. In his turn, Ambassador James D. Pettit noted that the Government of the United States of America looks forward to continuing the partnership between the two countries to promote the rule of law and improve judicial efficiency and accountability in Moldova. At the event, Superior Council of Magistracy Chair Micu thanked the US Government for the technical assistance provided to Moldova over the years. "We expect that the upgraded Integrated Case Management System (ICMS) will optimize the workflow and eliminate bottlenecks in order to bring more efficiency into judicial processes and procedures." His Excellency Ambassador Pettit congratulates Minister of Justice Cebotari Under the two-year $4.9 million, USAID will provide technical assistance to local partners to develop the ICMS. The ICMS is an electronic tool to reduce corruption, and it will promote transparency in the justice system by utilizing data and case management, as well as tracking judiciary performance indicators. 1

2 ONLINE ACCESS TO JUDICIARY INFORMATION KEY TO TRANSPARENCY AND EFFICIENCY On July 28, 2017, Open Justice kicked off the implementation of the project by conducting a public forum on access to information in the judiciary. The purpose of the public dialogue was to identify information of public interest that various target groups, including lawyers, judges, civil society organizations, and mass media feel they have a right to know to better monitor the actions of the judiciary and to access its services. The first public consultation that Open Justice conducted in July focused on explaining the current and future functionalities of the Case Management System (CMS) that all Moldovan courts of law use. Over 25 participants gathered to discuss the type of information that CMS generates that should become available online to increase the transparency and extend the range of publicly available information. The participants asserted that wider information on the judiciary is critical for people s trust in the transparency and accountability of the justice sector. As a result, Open Justice noted a large list of recommendations pertaining to information of public interest that CMS can generate and that should become available online on the Courts Portal (instante.justice.md). piloting in November Once it becomes operational, the system will allow electronic submission of complaints, online payment of court fees, attaching court case evidence, and online access to audio and video recordings case trials. On August 10, the Open Justice team invited key groups to constructively discuss the improvements needed to upgrade the judiciary websites of the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Agency for Court Administration, and the Courts Web Portal. Open Justice presented the current websites of the above-mentioned judiciary institutions and gave the workshop participants the opportunity to contribute with practical advice and recommendations on ways to enhance the information available for the public on the internet. Having worked in small groups, the workshop guests formulated and presented concrete improvement proposals for upgrading the information and functionality of the judiciary websites. Among the most requested changes was the adjustment of all websites for people with special needs, to allow functionalities such as changing colors, text zooming, and easy search tools. The participants also noted that the content of the websites should be made available in Romanian, Russian, and English. The inclusion of a Frequently Asked Questions section with up-to-date policies and regulations, and a special area on Judicial Career to increase the transparency of selection of judges, were among the requests made. Focus group participants discuss the information generated by the CMS that should become available online In addition, Open Justice presented the e-filing system, which is a modern IT tool that lawyers, prosecutors and parties will soon use to submit cases electronically. Currently, e-filing is being tested and is scheduled for Lawyers, civil society representatives and judges present recommendations for enhancing judiciary websites 2

3 OPEN JUSTICE LEADS THE WAY AND SIGNS A NEW MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING On August 4, Open Justice signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its key stakeholders - the Ministry of Justice and the Superior Council of Magistracy. The MoU sets the foundation for the cooperation between the main judicial bodies over the next two years. The signatory parties committed to work together closely on justice sector reform implementation to reduce corruption and strengthen the accountability and transparency of the justice sector and the judiciary. Open Justice will introduce innovative web-based technological tools and solutions for strengthening the justice system. The main objectives highlighted in the MoU reflect priority achievements, including enhancing the efficiency of the judiciary, improving the reorganization and optimization of courts, upgrading ICMS, streamlining case flow, applying performance standards, and increasing public access to justice sector information. In partnership with the Ministry of Justice and the Superior Council of Magistracy, Open Justice is working to deliver a range of results benefiting judges, court users, and the public at large. These include: All courts will be equipped with the upgraded Integrated Case Management System (ICMS) All judges and court staff will be trained in the use of the ICMS E-notification and e-filing services will be integrated into ICMS and made available to the public Implementation of new judiciary performance indicators will be made available online Upgraded judiciary websites will enable all members of society, particularly people with special needs, to access the newly enhanced information from the judiciary. The representatives of the justice sector noted their strong support for improving the justice sector and the judiciary to more effectively serve the interests of the Moldovan people. Open Justice Chief of Party Cristina Malai, Minister of Justice Vladimir Cebotari, and Superior Council of Magistracy Chair Victor Micu exchange the signed Memorandum of Understanding 3

4 WORKING GROUPS CATALYSTS OF CHANGE Within the first three months of the Project s implementation, the Open Justice team led in the creation of two Working Groups to spearhead improvements on the existing Case Management System (CMS) and the new overarching Integrated Case Management System (ICMS) and enhanced judicial performance indicators. Both Working Groups include senior members representing the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Agency for Court Administration, judges, and court staff. The main role of the ICMS Working Group is to provide recommendations to improve the legal framework amendments for ICMS and offer advice regarding the functional changes needed. The ICMS will strengthen court administration processes and systems in such areas as case flow management, the collection and use of court performance data, courts budgeting, and human resource development. The new ICMS will offer citizens easy access to various electronic services offered by the courts and to information about the courts and their performance. Open Justice also supported the Superior Council of Magistracy in establishing a Working Group on implementing judicial performance indicators that are concurrent with the recommendations of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ). Overall, the judiciary performance indicators serve as monitoring tools to evaluate different areas of the courts performance and provide reliable data for administrative decision-making. Among the most common indicators are cost per case, number of cases per judge, and duration of proceedings. Open Justice will make judiciary performance indicators available online, thus promoting the quality, transparency, accountability and accessibility of judicial statistics collected. Working Group on ICMS convene upon the upgraded functionalities of the new IT system The Working Groups proved to be an efficient mechanism for accomplishing results. Open Justice will be establishing similar Working Groups on court reorganization and optimization reform and on enhancing judicial nomination and promotion criteria. Members of the CEPEJ Working Group discuss the judicial performance indicators 4

5 Photo: Photo: SUCCESS STORY EASILY ACCESSIBLE ONLINE JUSTICE SECTOR INFORMATION USAID improves public access to transparent justice sector information on the internet Civil society and lawyers provide recommendations for improving access to judiciary information online Judge Veronica Cupcea from Orhei district court discusses courts performance indicators with Dumitru Visternicean, member of the Superior More information posted on judiciary webpages will generate more public trust. People will be able to see the judges' performance, case resolution rate, deferred hearing rate, the rate of judgment publication on the courts web portal, information about the cases under review, random distribution of cases, the audio and video recordings of the sessions. As a result, the use of information technology will help to fairly measure the credibility of the judiciary. Valentina Grigoris Director, Agency for Court Administration U.S. Agency for International Development Public access to justice sector information is key to building public trust in the judiciary. It is, in fact, a key element of a free and democratic nation. USAID is the leader in helping the Government of Moldova to implement justice sector reforms and harness modern technology in the courts of law. Since 2007, the American people have provided strong support for Moldova s path towards a strong, independent, and transparent justice system. The first major achievements were the institutionalization of the Case Management System (CMS) in all courts around the country, as well as the publication of court decisions online. Thanks to these improvements, thousands of court users, including journalists and civil society, can access the courts hearing schedule, summons, and decisions on the internet. However, in the recent year, both civil society and mass media publicly expressed concerns about the need for further openness within the judicial system. The requests put forward focused on the lack of public data regarding up-to-date information on each case managed through the CMS, the paucity of information about the performance of courts, and the difficulty in browsing judiciary websites, particularly the Courts Web Portal and the Agency for Court Administration and the Superior Council of Magistracy websites. In addition, these websites are not particularly user-friendly for people with special needs and require significant enhancement. In connection with improving the public s access to justice sector information, the USAID conducted a series of public consultations, collecting recommendations and suggestions from a total of 60 members of civil society, judges, lawyers, journalists, and justice sector representatives. As a result of the public consultations, the collected an extensive list of improvement recommendations. These are now being incorporated into the Project s development of comprehensive and userfriendly websites for Moldova s justice sector institutions. The new websites, which will be available by mid-2018, will offer a variety of upto-date information and reports on the activity of the Agency for Court Administration and the Superior Council of Magistracy, the courts work, simplified access to news and press releases, archived live streamed SCM sessions, and more. Website visitors will have access to real-time information and factual data to aid different purposes: writing justice research reports, conducting journalistic investigations, monitoring the status of lawsuits online, and ascertaining the performance of courts throughout the country. USAID s support to provide online access to justice sector information empowers Moldovan citizens to hold the judiciary accountable and improves courts services for citizens. 5

6 OPEN JUSTICE PROJECT BY THE NUMBERS Court automation 15 recommended upgrades to improve court automation 16 meetings with the IT company to coordinate the upgrade of the Integrated Case Management System Efficiency Transparency 368 court employees responded to a survey assessing the impact of court reorganization and optimization 5 Working Groups established to boost the efficiency of the judiciary 4 public consultations conducted for enhancing access to judiciary information 2 online surveys rolled out to increase access to information pertaining to justice 6

7 MOLDOVAN COURTS ASSISTED BY OPEN JUSTICE 7

8 DISCLAIMER This document was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Millennium DPI Partners, LLC. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the USAID 27, Armeneasca Street, 2 nd floor Chisinau MD-2012, Moldova Tel.: office@openjustice.md DISCLAIMER This newsletter is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for 8 International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.