Project assistance completion report (PACR) : improved administration of justice project (520-0369)

Checchi and Company Consulting, Inc. implemented the project. The project experienced both failures and successes. Planned training of Judicial Branch personnel never took place, due to communication problems and a failure to agree on a training plan. However, a small training unit was established at the Attorney General's office, and was quite successful and exceeded expectations, with more than 800 persons participating in 15 courses. The unit was fully equipped and the Attorney General's office has assured its sustainability by taking responsibility for all recurring costs. Perhaps the most relevant impact of project training has been not in the number trained, but in the excellent performance of those who were. The project updated the Judicial Branch's National Center for Legal Information Systems (CENALEX), expanding its legal reference and case load management system, and its financial management systems. CENALEX services all criminal courts in Guatemala City, all judicial and administrative offices in the Judicial Branch, 4 universities, the Guatemalan Bar Association, and government institutions in the executive and legislative Branch. A major achievement was the establishment of a permanent electronic connection (via modem) between CENALEX and the Computer Center of the National Congress. The project failed to meet only one of its targets for CENALEX's expansion -- the integration of the full text of all Guatemalan laws and jurisprudence into the system's indexes; the contractor was delayed in procuring needed equipment. The component to improve the court system completed 17 studies related to the judicial sector, but was unable to complete a planned study of the court structure due to lack of cooperation on the part of the court. The studies completed -- concerning financial systems, standardized forms, statistics, records management, and case flow management systems -- are being used and followed up on by units of the Judicial Branch. The National Justice Commission, created as a prerequisite to this project by the Regional Administration of Justice project, failed as an institution. Although the Commission was quite active in 1987 and 1988, it has since lost support, even among its members; although it still exists, it is inactive, However, there are informal monthly coordinating meetings of judicial institutions which address some of the issues that the Committee was designed to address. Of 8 planned judicial system assessment studies, only 1 has been completed, an analysis of the Public Ministry. The results of the study were accepted by judicial sector officials, the head of the Public Ministry, and the Attorney General, who is attempting, with the help of the Association of Research and Social Studies (ASIES), to implement the study's recommendations. While the initial authorization was for $5 million with a 3-year term and a possible 2-year extension with additional funding, USAID/G decided to terminate after 3 years and a total obligation of $3.4 million.