HACKATHON LEADS TO INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO ACCESS TO JUSTICE ISSUES

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1 NEWS BULLETIN September December 2017 HACKATHON LEADS TO INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO ACCESS TO JUSTICE ISSUES First day of the competition participants discuss expectations USAID s Open Justice team joined the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER) in organizing the second edition of the national justice hackathon. JUSTHack II is an IT competition focused on the issue of access to justice. The three-day event took place on November 17 19, 2017 and gathered 15 participants young lawyers, IT and law students, application developers, engineers, and coders, as well as high school students passionate about both coding and justice. The participants had 72 hours to develop a solution that would improve access to information in the justice sector in Moldova. Four teams competed for the opportunity to receive a sponsorship that would enable them to launch the product they designed during the hackathon. The Open Justice team provided the teams with a twohour mentoring session on a rotational basis. Mentors guided the participants through potential project topics such as improving access to justice, promoting alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and implementing technology tools to help people navigate the legal system. Open Justice took part in the evaluation of the IT solutions proposed during the hackathon. Hackathon participants brainstorm IT ideas for justice sector The winning app was the Moldova Legal Map, a mobile application (on an Android platform) to help people access contact information for Moldovan lawyers, notaries, paralegals, attorneys, mediators, and governmental institutions, as well as police offices, prosecutor offices, courts, tax departments, national centers, and state agencies. As a result, the winning team received a partial sponsorship to develop, implement, and promote the app in Moldova. Moldova Legal Map app presentation winner of the JUSTHack II competition 1

2 IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF JUDICIAL SELECTION IN MOLDOVA On November 27 28, 2017, Open Justice short-term consultants conducted a two-day workshop on the selection, transfer, and evaluation of judges. Several members of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) as well as representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Agency for Court Administration, and the donor community participated in the workshop. Representatives of the Superior Council of Magistracy discuss the Efficiency Action Plans Open Justice experts leading the workshop The interactive workshop facilitated a candid exchange of opinions on the issues pertaining to judicial selection, promotion, and evaluation. Participants agreed with the recommendations suggested by the Open Justice experts for improving the process of judicial selection and promotion. Judiciary representatives attending the workshop As a result of the discussions, the participants agreed on a common approach to the criteria and procedures for selection, the distribution of powers between the SCM, the Judges Performance Evaluation Board and the Judges Selection and Career Board, the need to improve the quality of the reasoning supporting the selection and promotion of judges by both the SCM Boards and the SCM members. Other recommendations referred to the need to amend certain legal acts in order to streamline the selection and evaluation procedures and the need to extend the competence of the Supreme Court of Justice to examine appeals against selection decisions and other issues. Open Justice experts used the outcome of the workshop to develop Efficiency Action Plans (EAPs) for the SCM Judicial Selection and Evaluation Boards. The purpose of the EAPs is to modernize the current system of assessing the work of judges and harmonize it with international and European standards. The workshop was part of Open Justice s effort to assist the Moldovan judiciary to improve the procedures of selecting, promoting, and evaluating judges and to foster fairness, transparency and accountability in the selection process. Following the workshop, on December 7, 2017, Open Justice conducted a training for the representatives of the SCM where Open Justice experts presented the draft proposed EAPs. In addition, the training focused on improving the criteria and processes of judicial selection decisions and on further enhancing the EAPs on the selection, transfer, promotion, and evaluation of judges. 2

3 OPEN JUSTICE SUPPORTS EVENTS DEDICATED TO IMPROVING ACCESS TO JUSTICE On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Open Justice took part in a public lecture in Balti on November 24, The purpose of the event was to raise awareness among students and university professors about domestic violence and the laws for preventing violence against women. The students learned how to offer legal advice to victims of domestic and other violence and became better prepared to offer the right assistance and information to victims. On the day of the event, the Open Justice team emphasized the importance of eliminating violence against women and knowing where to seek assistance. The Open Justice team distributed a brochure with practical advice on what to do when a person is abused and the national protection mechanisms that are in place. The brochure also contains contact information for institutions that offer specialized assistance and counselling to abuse victims. By contributing to improving the knowledge of future lawyers and legal advisers on how to better assist vulnerable women, Open Justice demonstrated its commitment to ensuring access to justice for all Moldovan citizens. Assistance Center for Persons with Disabilities to produce a brochure to help people with special needs better understand their legal rights and obtain free legal aid. The brochure was distributed to over 90 participants at the conference. Open Justice team members also took part in a panel discussion on improving public understanding of disability issues. By participating in this activity, Open Justice contributed to increasing access to justice sector information for people with special needs. Presenting the brochure Access to justice and the rights of people with special needs Students at the Alecu Russo University in Balti learn about the national mechanisms for preventing violence against women On December 4 5, 2017, the United Nations organized a two-day conference dedicated to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The conference s goal was to advocate for improved physical access to public institutions for people with special needs and to educate the public about the rights of people with disabilities. The conference served as an occasion to join the international community in supporting the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Open Justice collaborated with the Legal During the same week, on December 8, 2017, Open Justice and the Balti Legal Clinic conducted a public discussion on how to fight corruption. The event brought together 35 participants, including law and social science students, who split into two groups to share their views and concerns about corruption and its impact on human rights. Each group came up with highly thoughtful anti-corruption proposals, and all agreed that there is a need to foster a culture of law in Moldovan society. In this way, Open Justice contributed to educating the younger generation on how to spot and fight corruption and how to foster respect for human rights. 3

4 VIDEOCONFERENCING EQUIPMENT INSTALLED IN MOLDOVAN COURTS In order to modernize the services offered by the Moldovan courts and promote transparency of the legal process, the Open Justice Project purchased video conferencing equipment to streamline remote communication between the Superior Council of Magistracy and the courts, video record court trials, to improve the efficiency of court management, and make it possible for inmates to participate remotely in court trials and hearings. This action supports the Government s efforts to optimize the interaction of the penitentiary institutions with courts and to create appropriate infrastructure for conducting online court hearings. courts to use the videoconferencing equipment. Open Justice will also ensure the training of court users and the Superior Council of Magistracy representatives on how to appropriately use the videoconferencing equipment to maximize its usefulness. Open Justice will complete installing the videoconferencing equipment in all Moldovan courts by the end of January The videoconferencing equipment will be piloted in two courts, the Soroca District Court and the Balti Appellate Court, from mid- January 2018 to the end of March At the end of the piloting phase, Open Justice will assist all Moldovan BUSINESS COMMUNITY CONSULTED ON THE TYPE OF JUDICIAL INFORMATION TO BE AVAILABLE ONLINE On October 31, 2017, the Open Justice Project organized a roundtable with representatives of the Moldovan business community to discuss the kinds of legal information they would like to access online. This Open Justice activity supports greater transparency and accountability of the judicial process, which is critical to local and foreign investors in Moldova and thus to economic development. The Open Justice team presented the content of the current webpages of the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Agency for Court Administration, and the National Court s Portal and collected feedback from the roundtable participants on needed improvements. Roundtable participants recommended the following changes: posting information in three languages, Romanian, English and Russian; providing information for persons with special needs via modern e-tools and apps; publishing court statistics online, including on court performance; and offering advanced search engines so businesses can find out if companies were previously involved in a court case. Business community representatives provide recommendations for enhancing judicial websites 4

5 Photo: Open Justice Project Photo: Open Justice Project SUCCESS STORY COURT REORGANIZATION AND MODERNIZATION OFFERS BETTER PUBLIC SERVICES USAID Open Justice Project provides significant technical assistance to the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Agency for Court Administration in advancing the court reorganization and optimization process by introducing innovative IT solutions to streamline court procedures and provide quality public services. The project supports its key stakeholders in offering better court services and accessible information to court users and the public, such as people s rights in court, ways to receive free legal assistance for vulnerable groups, electronic fillable forms and judiciary performance indicators for monitoring courts activities. The court reorganization and optimization (CRO) reform is a major priority of the Moldovan government in its efforts to provide efficient and transparent judicial services to the people of Moldova. Under this reform the number of courts in the country have been reduced from 44 to 15 to address inefficiencies and costs, and the challenges of providing judges and trained personnel for so many courts. The reform also seeks to modernize court processes and services by using innovative technology (IT), improving the quality and integrity of its judges and judicial personnel, and by making the judiciary more transparent and accessible. The USAID Open Justice Project is actively assisting the government to move this reform forward while enhancing public awareness of the reform s longterm impact. As a first step, Open Justice conducted an impact evaluation of the CRO to identify the most challenging issues faced by the courts staff. Open Justice organized seven focus groups with representatives from the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Agency for Court Administration, and district and appellate courts. In addition, the Project conducted an online survey involving 368 participants, in which court presidents, judges, and court staff contributed their opinions about the impact, advantages, and disadvantages of CRO. In response to the problems identified in the assessment, the Project assisted the Superior Council of Magistracy in the creation of a CRO Working Group to expedite the reform. Members of the Working Group on CRO discuss the IT solutions to modernize Moldovan courts Open Justice Consultant presents the main evaluation findings of the court infrastructure and maintenance costs U.S. Agency for International Development The Working Group pinpointed an urgent need to introduce IT solutions and equipment. Open Justice is upgrading the Case Management System and developing the highly interoperable Integrated Case Management System, which among other things, will greatly improve the ability of the public to access court information and services. Open Justice also purchased 20 sets of videoconferencing equipment and installed these at the central premises of district courts, appellate courts, the Supreme Court of Justice and the Superior Council of Magistracy. The equipment is used to ensure better communication between the Superior Council of Magistracy and court leadership, organize online court hearings with detainees and enhance transparency by video recording court hearings. Open Justice also evaluated the infrastructure of 42 court offices across the country and conducted a cost analysis for the courts continued maintenance. The Project made recommendations for further consolidation of courts in order to address financial shortfalls, and enhance overall court administration and improve its capacity to deliver services more effectively. Open Justice has proposed amendments to the Law 76 on CRO to speed the merging of courts to improve public access to justice. Although the full CRO implementation is scheduled to be completed by 2028, the USAID Open Justice Project is helping the judiciary to advance the reform so that citizens have access to high quality court services as soon as possible. 5

6 Open Justice Project by the Numbers Court automation 20 procured video conferencing equipment sets comprising: 40 TV screens 20 computers 80 video cameras All Moldovan courts will be equipped with video conferencing equipment Efficiency 17 judicial performance indicators developed to improve court performance management A Frequently Asked Questions section on courts activity developed for the Courts Web Portal 200 people engaged in outreach activities on important international days Transparency 1,200 questionnaires collected via the public opinion poll to measure the level of people s trust in the justice system 4 focus groups organized to collect information on public perception of the judiciary 6

7 Recent publications Brochure The rights of people with disabilities and access to justice, available online at Flyer Stop Family Violence, available online at 7

8 USAID Open Justice Project 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 International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the Open Justice Project and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or 8 the United States Government.