Gov’t Looking to Spend $129 Million on Justice Project
May 16, 2012The Full Story
Government is projecting to spend $129 million this fiscal year on initiatives under the Justice Undertakings for Social Transformation project in the Ministry of Justice.
The amount is provided in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives.
The project aims to provide improved service delivery and management capacity of the justice sector institutions; improve the capacity of ministries, departments, and agencies to coordinate and streamline the process of developing legislation; and to provide improved capacity of citizens and civil organisations to participate in justice reform and promote public order.
Some of the achievements to date include: providing support for drafting of laws; completion of draft annual work plan; establishing a justice reform implementation unit and steering and consultative committees; conducting preliminary assessment of policy capacity of the Ministry of Justice; award of scholarship to staff of the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel; and staging of stakeholder consultations.
Among the targets for 2012-13 is putting in place a framework and monitoring mechanism for interventions; conducting consultations on justice reform; and to develop and roll out standards of conduct for prosecutors.
In addition, a draft legal reform review plan will be drafted; preliminary research on policy process and capacity conducted; and a strategic framework document for the establishment of the court management services developed.
The project is funded by a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and is scheduled to be completed by March 2016.
By Latonya Linton, JIS Reporter