Publication: Vested Interests in Legal and Judicial Reform
Loading...
Date
2008-05
ISSN
Published
2008-05
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report analyzes the main reasons or interests that have prevented some recent judicial and legal reforms in Honduras and Bolivia from becoming effective. It focuses on the reasons why criminal justice reforms were unable to put an end to the misuse of pre-trial detention. The report also includes a study of some of the reasons that have prevented criminal procedure code reforms from reducing the perception of impunity prevailing in both countries. With respect to the reforms of judicial selection mechanisms, it focuses on the interests that have prevented the public perception of judicial independence from improving in spite of the implementation of those reforms. The report includes an annex to Section 1, consultations with civil society in Honduras. Section 2 discusses civil and commercial justice in Paraguay. Section 3 discusses vested interests in legal and judicial reform projects in Guyana.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2008. Vested Interests in Legal and Judicial Reform. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28204 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Criminal Justice(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11-09)Strengthening the rule of law is widely regarded among traditional donors, multilateral institutions, and a growing number of middle income and fragile states as a necessary precondition for sustainable peace, poverty alleviation, and development. Crime and violence deter investment and lower employment, undermine social institutions, and divert resources through direct and indirect costs, all of which hinder development. It is likely to disproportionately affect poor and marginalized populations by limiting access to basic services. The formal criminal justice system is seen in many environments as failing to deliver justice. Most states experiencing fragility do not have the capacity to effectively prevent crime, enforce laws, or peacefully resolve disputes across the whole of their territories. There is another powerful deterrent for communities to seek redress through state criminal justice institutions: they are frequently a primary instrument for the government and elites to maintain power and control through the perpetration of injustice. The informal system, however, is alone insufficient to handle the pressing justice requirements of fragile states, not least for preventing and responding to inter-communal conflict, to serious organized and cross-border crime, and to public corruption and other 'white collar' crime.Publication Justice(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11-05)There is broad recognition, across the political spectrum and in both 'northern' and 'southern' countries, that justice reform, and more generally the promotion of the 'rule of law', are central to development policy, particularly in conflict-affected, fragile and violent contexts. More recently an increased focus on global security and the interaction between security and development as put a renewed emphasis on such efforts. However, while legal, regulatory and 'justice' institutions are now seen as key part of the 'solution' to problems of conflict, fragility and development, this recognition is not matched by a correspondingly clear sense of what should be done, how it should be done, by whom, in what order, or how 'success' may be determined. There often tends to be a clear misunderstanding of both the nature of the problem and (thus) of the solution. In this paper, the author seek to provide some insight into these questions and sketch out a practical conception of effective justice reform in situations of conflict and fragility that may provide the basis for effective programming.Publication Uses and Users of Justice in Africa : The Case of Ethiopia's Federal Courts(World Bank, 2010-07-01)This report presents the findings of one of a series of studies sponsored by the World Bank on the 'uses and users' of courts in the regions where it participates in justice reform projects. These studies typically use aggregate statistics and random samples of cases files to analyze court performance. The results of these studies are useful to countries and to the Bank in separating real from imagined problems, identifying their causes, planning reform programs, and tracking their results over time. Although in Africa court use is typically restricted to a small portion of the population, most donor funding goes to the formal court system and most countries are interested in expanding access to the latter. Hence, the studies can help evaluate those investments and point them in directions where they are likely to do the most good in advancing objectives like increased and more equitable access, delay reduction, and satisfactory resolution of common disputes. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in Africa and thus in the world. As in the rest of Africa, traditional dispute resolution mechanisms and a series of 'hybrid institutions' serve a majority of the population. However, its judicial system is unusual in several aspects. First, since 1994, the government has been actively engaged in expanding access to the formal system and improving the professionalism of its judges. Second, at both the federal and sub-national levels, governments have been actively extending the reach of the court system, both by adding courts and judges and by using a variety of additional mechanisms. Third, and most important for this study, for the past ten years, the federal judiciary has been promoting the development of a computerized case tracking system to monitor performance.Publication Crime and Violence in Central America : A Development Challenge - Executive Summary(World Bank, 2010-09-01)Crime and violence are now a key development issue for Central American countries. In three nations El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras crime rates are among the top five in Latin America. This report argues that successful strategies require actions along multiple fronts, combining prevention and criminal justice reform, together with regional approaches in the areas of drug trafficking and firearms. It also argues that interventions should be evidence based, starting with a clear understanding of the risk factors involved and ending with a careful evaluation of how any planned action might affect future options. In addition, the design of national crime reduction plans and the establishment of national cross-sectoral crime commissions are important steps to coordinate the actions of different government branches, ease cross-sectoral collaboration and prioritize resource allocation. Of equal importance is the fact that national plans offer a vehicle for the involvement of civil society organizations, in which much of the expertise in violence prevention and rehabilitation resides. Prevention efforts need to be complemented by effective law enforcement. The required reforms are no longer primarily legislative in nature because all six countries have advanced toward more transparent adversarial criminal procedures. The second-generation reforms should instead help deliver on the promises of previous reforms by: (i) strengthening key institutions and improving the quality and timeliness of the services they provide to citizens; (ii) improving efficiency and effectiveness while respecting due process and human rights; (iii) ensuring accountability and addressing corruption; (iv) increasing inter-agency collaboration; and (v) improving access to justice, especially for poor and disenfranchised groups. Specific interventions reviewed in the report include: information systems and performance indicators as a prerequisite to improve inter-institutional coordination and information sharing mechanisms; an internal overhaul of court administration and case management to create rapid reaction, one-stop shops; the strengthening of entities that provide legal counseling to the poor and to women; and the promotion of alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms and the implementation of community policing programs.Publication Kenya - Economic Development, Police Oversight, and Accountability : Linkages and Reform Issues(World Bank, 2009-09-16)The objective of this study is to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on police reform in Kenya, where poor police services are eroding the state's capacity to protect people and property, thereby limiting the country's efforts in relation to economic development and poverty reduction. Five years after launching a series of programs and pilot projects to improve police performance, the government of Kenya concluded that the reform program achieved only limited success: the country is continuing to experience high levels of crime and inter-ethnic violence and other insecurity concerns. Since 2003, reforms have focused on addressing the chronic lack of public confidence in the police and the persistence of corruption at all levels of the police force. Many of the reforms have been aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and expanding institutional capacity, especially by rehabilitating premises and purchasing vehicles. Despite these efforts, the force continues to be seriously weakened by structural dysfunction and extremely limited capacity, which are at the center of the most serious governance problems facing Kenya, namely, large-scale corruption, high levels of crime, and interethnic violence. This study supplements the Kenyan experience by drawing on police reform research and experiences from Latin America and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Error: Could not load results for 'https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/item/relateditemlistconfigs/4028cd16-cb2e-528d-a398-72e04f68bf0c_downloads/itemlist'.