Ethiopia’s system of justice has suffered from long delays that undermined public confidence in the rule of law and imperiled rights granted under the Constitution. Lack of institutional capacity in both law enforcement and the judiciary were at the root of the problem. There was an acute shortage of trained professionals and existing personnel were inadequately qualified. Essential procedural components such as court case management, filing, and recording and transcribing systems were antiquated or inadequate. Law schools were unable to produce enough competent lawyers. Adequate courtrooms were in short supply, and outdated administrative methods and technology led to congested dockets and extended stretches between arrest and verdict. Law enforcement was inefficient, creating doubt that the evidentiary basis would be established to assure that justice would be served.
The Public Sector Capacity Building Program Support Project (PSCAP), funded by IDA and bilateral donors, is a broad-based effort to improve governance and service delivery at the federal, regional and local levels in Ethiopia across several sectors. A key component targets comprehensive reform of the justice system—from the drafting of sound legislation and administrative law, to effective police enforcement, to courts dispensing fair and timely justice.
The judicial reform subproject supports work to ensure the rule of law by creating an effective, fair and modern court system. It addresses both federal and regional government courts to improve performance at each level as well as systemwide. Activities included:
(a) improving filing systems to facilitate accurate and timely tracking of cases at each stage of disposition;
(b) improving case flow management;
(c) introducing an automated audio taping system to transcribe proceedings in federal and regional courts;
(d) establishing public information booths in court buildings;
(e) expanding government funding to educate more attorneys;
(f) expediting delivery of court orders and decisions;
(g) establishing a legal training center to upgrade the skills of judges and support staff throughout the system;
(h) conducting workshops for judges and court personnel to raise awareness of new laws, sentencing guidelines, human rights, ethics, gender sensitivity and other relevant factors;
(i) training senior judges in management skills to improve system performance;
(j) upgrading the information and communication technology skills of judges and staff; and
(k) conducting regular training for court clerks.
Modern information and communication technology and new management systems are revolutionizing how courts function, reducing backlogs by speeding up case resolutions and improving citizen access to trial proceedings and disposition. More than 25,000 judges and senior staff have been trained in skills to enhance job performance and expedite the delivery of justice.
Highlights:
- Over 22,000 judges have attended short- and long-term training courses, and over 2,000 support staff took part in programs to upgrade professional skills or received on-the-job training. Judges were provided with the latest legal and policy information to build the knowledge and awareness critical to forming and crafting reasoned and rapid judgments.
- The annual clearance rate of cases exceeds 80 percent in the federal and subnational Supreme Courts. Supreme Courts in five states (Harari, Gambella, Tigray, Amhara and Benshangul) have no backlogs. At the high court and first-instance court levels, three states (Tigray, Benshangul and Amhara) have no cases pending longer than a year.
- A “real-time dispatch” system has been installed in some regions, allowing judgement and sentencing to occur within a day in cases for which the crime and the culprit are clear.
- Video conferencing facilities are available at the Federal Supreme Court and in six regional supreme courts, with more than 500 subnational cases heard annually.
- Access to justice has been widened and its cost reduced by introduction of an interactive system using touch screens and voice response telephony to provide instant information on pending cases to clients anywhere. Usage has increased tenfold during the first year of operation in the federal Supreme Court, from an average of 30 calls a day to over 300.
- The Federal Supreme Court has introduced an electronic filing system for its cases and 9 of 11 regional supreme courts have access to both the Internet and e-mail.
- Use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms is increasing, including establishment of social courts for handling community-level disagreements. The Tigrai region, for instance, reports resolution of more than 45,000 cases through various alternative mechanisms.
- Case-flow management systems and recording and transcription of testimony and proceedings are now being rolled out to the three tiers of courts at the federal and regional levels.
IDA contributed US$80 million to the project for improving the efficiency and responsiveness of Ethiopia’s public service system, including the performance of the justice system at the federal, regional and local levels..
The project is funded by a consortium of bilateral, multilateral and international development agencies. Of the original estimated project cost of US$397.8 million, US$ 212.3 million has been committed thus far. In addition to IDA, US$13.6 million comes from the Canadian International Development Agency, US$47 million from the U.K. Department for International Development, US$4.2 million from Irish Aid, US$12.4 million from the European Commission, and US$55.1 million from the Government of Ethiopia.
Additional financing is being processed to support the existing funding gap of US $185.1 million and extend the project past its December 2009 closing date through 2012.
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