Caribbean improvement of justice project (Eastern Caribbean and Belize) : midterm evaluation

External evaluation covers the period 8/86-7/89. Despite the accomplishments noted below, the project has tried to do too many things with limited resources and implementation capability; it is substantially behind schedule and activities in some countries may not be completed by the PACD. Delays can be attributed largely to the novelty of this type of project, the inexperience of UWI and A.I.D. in implementing justice sector projects, UWI inexperience in managing construction activities, and inexperience of the national justice systems in dealing with foreign donors. Specific findings are as follows. (1) Project approvals and disbursements have been delayed, especially with respect to construction. (2) The development of centralized law libraries has been delayed by lack of space (except in Antigua) and by the failure to enact statutes governing library management and use, and to train paraprofessional law librarians. (3) There is considerable variation among the participating countries in the law revision component. Dominica has nearly completed the revision stage, while St. Lucia and St. Kitts have yet to identify a source of TA funding. (4) In the court registries component, several computers have been delivered without accompanying software or necessary training, and registries are cramped for space due to inadequate disposal practices. (5) No legal aid facilities have been established, with the exception of programs established under other auspices in Belize, St. Lucia, and Grenada. (6) Significant advances have been made in training paralegals, with heavily subsidized programs in place. However, progress in Dominica has been constrained due to the perception that paralegals would take clients away from professionals. (7) TA to beneficiary countries has been commendable, especially in evaluating and identifying law library needs and conducting various training programs for judicial and court personnel. (8) Very few countries have complied with policy reform requirements. For example, very few have established law reform committees or management and materials security regimes for libraries, made attempts to enlarge appropriations for the justice sector, or tried to improve terms of employment for court officials. For further information, see the abstract of PD-ABC-324.