Updated: June 9, 2012
JUSTPAL Communities of Practice Meetings for Budgeting for the Justice Sector (7- 8 June 2012, The Hague)
The Hague Institute for Global Justice (THIGJ) organized the Communities of Practice (COP) meetings for Budgeting for the Justice Sector and for Court Managers and Administrators. These meetings are being organized in conjunction with the Justice Sector Peer-Assistance Learning (JustPal) Network, a World Bank initiative. The World Bank together with THIGJ has established the Secretariat of JustPal in The Hague. One of the first activities which is being organized by the Institute for JustPal is the COP meetings that will bring justice professionals together from across the globe to share best practices on the impact of the current economic situation on the ability of professionals in the justice sector to perform and for court managers and administrators. These COP meetings bring together justice professionals from European and Central Asian countries where reforms and modernization are most intensive, thereby serving as a forum for participants to share knowledge with each other on the finances of the justice sector and on court management and administration. Delegation of MoJ consisted of: Ms.Jagoda Jelicic, Assisstant Minister and Ms.Daliborka Grubic, Financial Management Specialist on MDTF-JSS.
Topics:
7 June 2012 Analysis of the Problem
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Opening and introducing the aim of the COP meeting
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General introduction of the subject:
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Country experience Speaker 1: The impact of economic development on workload for courts e.g. inflow of cases, duration of procedures, backlog of cases.
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Interactive Session (1): The reduction and prevention of backlog cases
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Presentation of Survey findings and short discussion
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Country experience Speaker 2: Model for financing the court.
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Interactive Session (2): The competence of the court to handle its own finances. Are members of the judiciary given special finance management training? How does internal budget allocation work in practice?
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Speaker 3: Relationship between Budgeting and Court Performance
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Interactive session (3): Future challenges for the justices sector and the judiciary in relation to accountability and performance based budgeting
8 June 2012 Solutions
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Interactive session: Solutions for overcoming the challenges concerning the budgetary situation in the justice area. How can access to justice be ensured in times of financial crisis? What can be participants do in their individual professional capacity to ensure access to justice for individuals using the resources available?
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Reporting and adoption of recommendations related to budgeting of the justice sector (based on the introductions of day 1 and the interactive sessions of day 2 and 3)
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Discussion and adoption of future topics to be examined during the next COP meetings
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Closure of the meeting
The JUSTPAL Network was launched in April 2011. It aims to share country experiences and results in justice reform and acts as a catalyst for engaging justice professionals to learn from and adapt experiences and peer-driven improvements to justice systems in Europe and Central Asia. The Network comprises four Communities of Practice: (a) Budgeting; (b) Physical Infrastructure; (c) Information Systems; and (d) Court Management and Administration. Based on requests from participating countries, JUSTPAL Communities of Practice are also being established for prosecutors and commercial court judges. The network aims to bring about a dialogue between legal professionals from Europe and Central Asia (prospects of expanding into other continents). Different “communities of practice” (COPs) in different fields of the legal profession meet each other on the web and in person to exchange good practices and peer-driven improvements to their respective systems. In addition, this network will provide a wealth of data for future research at the same time as making available an enormous network of legal experts The World Bank and The Hague Institute for Global Justice hosted the second annual meeting of the Justice Peer-Assisted Learning (JUSTPAL) Network, a cooperative peer-based learning and knowledge-sharing resource on justice issues for all countries in Europe and Central Asia (ECA). Policymakers, leaders and representatives of the justice sector from 27 countries and several international organizations met in The Hague, the Netherlands, from June 7-8, to share best practices and exchange country experiences on aspects concerning budgeting and improved efficiency in the justice sector, and ways to improve performance in court management and administration. The meetings of the JUSTPAL Communities of Practice on Budgeting and Court Management and Administration focused on performance and efficient use of resources in the justice sector. It examined country experiences in resource allocation with a focus on results and linking budgets to programs. Court performance and the experience of various ECA countries in addressing the challenges of ensuring high quality justice services in a tight budgetary environment highlighted the need for well-defined performance indicators and innovative solutions to justice service provision. The next meeting is scheduled for the 27th and 28th of September 2012. as interactive conferences at the Brijuni National Park, Croatia.