Economic Courts Activity (ECA) Project – Egypt: First Year Workplan

The project's first year work plan, spanning from August 24, 2020, to August 15, 2021, focuses on establishing a foundation for the project's activities through a comprehensive baseline assessment of ECA partners, including the Economic Courts, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The assessment will be carried out in three pilot courts in Cairo, Alexandria, and Port Said with the assistance of a seasoned Court Administrator. Objective 1 of the project aims to automate specialized functions within the Economic Courts by improving the efficiency of the ECs through automation of manual functions and re-engineering existing automation components. The project will design, develop, and deploy a modern Case Management System (CMS) in a modular fashion to minimize disruption to the normal business of the Economic Courts. In conjunction with the automation aspect of Objective 1, ECA will provide training in systems support and hardware management, budgeting for technology components, and assistance in development of new or re-engineering of existing short-, medium-, and long-term IT strategies and plans. Objective 2 focuses on improving transparency of Economic Courts functions and decisions by mentoring EC leadership and professional staff in analytic methods, performance indicators, and statistical interpretation in the justice sector context. ECA will also work to strengthen MOJ/EC capacity to oversee publication of EC-related legal issue journals, newsletters, etc. Objective 3 aims to bring about organizational change within the Economic Courts to support greater efficiency and transparency by advancing human capacity and institutional development of the ECs. ECA will provide training curricula focused on EC applicable laws, performance indicators, and statistical interpretation, as well as soft skills trainings on topics such as change management, time management, leadership, and communications. The project will work in close partnership with the ECs, MOJ, and MCIT, soliciting feedback and signoff approval on activities to ensure that ECA is consistently providing the level and type of technical assistance desired by counterparts. This collaborative approach will enhance the human capability of court staff and ensure that the automation provided through ECA adheres to modernization policies recently endorsed by MCIT and the Government of Egypt. The baseline assessment activity is a critical step for the project, providing the information and data necessary to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in the economic courts and prioritize activities through its implementation framework. The output of the baseline assessment will be the Economic Courts Process Analysis report, which will include a business and technical process analysis of pilot courts, gathering of appropriate baseline data, and proposed benchmarks for improvement. The project will also develop a baseline assessment tool to gather information related to each of the three project objectives and provide the Assessment Team with training on how to execute the assessment. ECA will advise and oversee the assessment, holding regular team debriefing sessions to discuss data gathered. Through this cooperative assessment effort, EC senior management, MOJ, and MCIT will have direct input and knowledge of ECA plans, resulting in better acceptance of ECA activities. The project's strategic approach will support sustainability and acceptance from the Egyptian beneficiary organizations, ensuring that the automation provided through ECA adheres to modernization policies recently endorsed by MCIT and the Government of Egypt.