Legal Professional Development and Anti-Corruption Program (LPAC) Monthly Report February 2016

The program aims to increase the capacity of Liberia's legal institutions to produce a high-quality and increased number of judges, magistrates, prosecutors, public defenders, lawyers, and other law-trained actors to maintain an effective legal system, and to reduce corruption that undermines that system. LPAC consists of two components structured to address these challenges. The first component comprises capacity building to the four key Liberian justice sector institutions: the Judicial Institute, the Louis Arthur Grimes Law School (Law School), the Liberian Legal Information Institute (LiberLII), and the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA). These institutions focus on educating, regulating, and informing legal professionals. The second component supports the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and associated Government of Liberia entities in their efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict perpetrators of corruption-related crimes, and to educate the public regarding the fight against corruption in Liberia. During the month of February 2016, LPAC achieved several accomplishments. The Chief of Party, Donald Cinnamond, reported for duty, and LPAC continued to complete local hiring actions to fill vacant positions. However, delays in securing additional vehicles are impacting LPAC programs and deliverable activities. USAID Liberia is working with Global Initiative to transfer two used vehicles from fleet inventories. LPAC's ICT assessment team completed meetings and assessments at all counterpart locations, and the final report is expected by the end of March 2016. The team will work to integrate ICT findings, constraints, and recommendations into the larger MOC review and approval process outlined in Integrated Activity 2. Final draft memoranda of cooperation (MOCs) have been submitted to USAID for review and approval. Once approved, LPAC will coordinate meetings with USAID and counterpart institutions to secure agreements on a "way forward" to prioritize LPAC funding and capacity building program support activities. The James A.A. Pierre Judicial Institute (JI) has sustainable capacity to support an accountable judiciary that instills increased trust in Liberia's formal justice system. To achieve sustainability, it will be necessary for the Institute to obtain reliable funding from the Government of Liberia and better manage its scarce resources. The JI held a meeting to continue working on human resource management analysis, focusing on exploring international best practices and identifying gaps in the Liberian court system related to orientation, education, training, and development, and performance appraisal. LPAC continued working with seconded magistrate trainers to revise course materials, syllabus, and a curriculum guide for the Professional Magistrates Training Program ("PMTP"). The PMTP syllabus and proposed schedule was shared with the JI Board Chair for his input and approval. The Quarterly Judicial Training Program (QJTP) was conducted from February 3-5, 2016, in Zwerdu, Grand Gedeh. With support from LPAC, PAE, and the Court, the JI reinstated this flagship training program after a 4-year hiatus due to lack of funding. The training provided 60 judges and magistrates with sessions on Judgment Writing, Accessing LiberLII, Stress Management, and Best Practices in Pre Trial Detention (in partnership with PAE).