Justice Institutions Strengthening Program (JISP) 1st Quarter Report – FY2011

(MSD) in Timor-Leste. The program aims to build administrative and management capacity in Timor-Leste's justice sector institutions by providing training and technical support in areas such as general administration, strategic planning, financial management, human resources administration, good governance, and anti-corruption practices. The program's core approach is to provide parallel academic and practical training through long-term courses, such as the Executive Financial Management and Training Support Program (FMTS). JISP also deploys experts and advisers to provide technical assistance and support for capacity-building in several justice agencies. The program's key objective is to enable justice sector institutions to perform key management functions, enhance their effectiveness, develop greater efficiency in their day-to-day operations, and increase their capacity to perform their mandated functions under the law. During the 1st quarter of FY2011, JISP achieved several important milestones. The program commenced investigation training for newly recruited investigators in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and produced operations manuals for the same organization. Financial Management and Basic Auditing courses continued successfully, and the roll-out of administrative skills to the Public Defender's District Offices commenced. Additionally, MSD facilitated the participation of four Government of Timor-Leste officials in the 8th Annual Post Graduate Certificate in Corruption Studies at the University of Hong Kong and the attendance and participation of four other officials at the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. In coordination with the USAID Timor-Leste Democracy and Governance Office, the MSD project team implemented several activities during the reporting period. These included revising and approving the JISP 2010/2011 work-plan, which has seven key elements: supporting the Public Defender, supporting efficient judicial administration, supporting the organization of the Anti-Corruption Commission, producing an assessment of the investigation policies and processes of Timor-Leste's investigation agencies, building capacity for audit in the Office of the Inspector General, building an academic foundation for anti-corruption, and the Financial Management Training and Support Program. MSD continued to assist the Anti-Corruption Commission to develop and implement its strategic and institutional development plan, produce operating manuals, and commence investigator training. The CAC has a broad mandate to combat corruption and related activities committed in the public administration against the public trust, through investigation, prevention, and public education. Commissioner Aderito de Jesus Soares requested USAID and MSD support to organize his office and prepare basic planning documents that will guide the institutional development of the CAC. The major development in this quarter was the commencement of training for the nine new investigators recruited by CAC. Mr. Brito has also started the process of planning the transition from this training to the training which will be offered to the CAC through the MCC Threshold Program. MSD Administration Adviser continued support for improvement of manual file management and general administration at Public Defenders Office (PDO). USAID-funded Administration Specialist Esmerina Petutschnig continued to implement the PDO Head Office processes for registration, movement recording, and storage of the Public Defender's manual file management system, which she designed.