Moldova Effective Justice Model Court Initiative Quarterly Report

The initiative is a Task Order under the Effective Justice Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity Contract, with a duration of three years. The primary objective of the initiative is to identify and support Moldovan courts in achieving and maintaining Model Court status through improved services to the public. To achieve this objective, the initiative works in partnership with key actors and stakeholders in the justice systems in Moldova, including the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Ministry of Justice, the Agency for Court Administration, the National Institute of Justice, and civil society organizations. The initiative's activities are led by a team of experts from Checchi and Company Consulting, Inc. During the first quarter of the initiative, several start-up activities were conducted, including recruiting and engaging main project staff, securing a temporary office, and collecting and analyzing bids for office equipment purchase. The initiative also conducted kick-off meetings with its main local counterparts, including the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Ministry of Justice, the Agency for Court Administration, and the National Institute of Justice. The initiative established a Model Courts Working Group, which will consist of representatives from the Superior Council of Magistrates, the Ministry of Justice, and courts. The Working Group will engage with the initiative in discussing and planning the implementation of various activities in two model courts and advising on extending best practices from model courts to a nation-wide level of the Moldovan judiciary. On the technical side, the initiative developed and submitted a 150-day Work Plan, which was approved by USAID. The initiative also developed a Baseline Assessment of all district courts, which collected information about the respondents' perceptions related to courts' management, transparency, communication, and automation. The Baseline Assessment has offered statistical evidence to support the need for court improvement, ranging from management, use of available digital solutions, to becoming more responsive to court users and local community needs. The initiative also developed an Applied Political Economy Analysis (APEA), which describes and analyzes the factors affecting future opportunities and resources available to district courts. The APEA identified several key social, political, and economic factors likely to influence the future workloads and complexity of cases and services in first instance courts. In addition, the initiative developed a list of measures to track the progress of the selected model courts, most of which can already be automatically generated by the current Integrated Case Management System's performance dashboard. The initiative also developed the Pilot Model Courts (PMC) selection procedure for district courts to apply to become Model Courts, and developed the selection criteria for the Model Courts. The initiative drafted and submitted the Communication and Launch Strategy to USAID, the goal of which is to publicize MCI activities and promote interest among courts and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in engaging with MCI. The initiative also developed a draft Grants Manual outlining information for prospective MCI grantees, and initiated an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - systems review, which will offer guidance about likely future directions in technology use in Moldovan courts. The initiative conducted a rapid mapping of Moldovan CSOs active in the legal, human rights, and justice sectors, which will be used to explore opportunities to engage with civil society representatives in various regions of Moldova.