Sustainable justice reform

The evaluation covered the period 1992-2/95. The project"s pace and accomplishments have been satisfactory. Both the Project Implementation Unit within the Ministry of National Security and Justice and the TA contractor (CSLA Inc.) have performed quite well, and the project is generating sustainable reforms that will benefit Jamaica socially and economically after USAID support ends. Several benefits are already visible: the Justice Coordinating Council, chaired by the Minister of National Security and Justice, meets regularly and takes an active role in the project; court administrators have been hired, trained, and are functioning in all parish courts; many courthouses are being renovated with government funds; courthouse utilization has been rationalized, with five courthouses already closed and the Supreme Court staying in session one month longer than usual to reduce its case backlog; the Jamaican Bar Association has held seminars for its members and is publishing its first volume on Supreme Court judgments; and the Mediation Council has been reorganized into the Dispute Resolution Foundation, Ltd. with full-time staff. However, two legislative actions are needed as quickly as possible (status of court administrators and record keeping). Although the project"s activities fit together well, the implementation planning and schedule in the Project Paper were seriously flawed. Several lessons can be learned from this. (1) Give adequate time to project design. (2) Implementation planning should be no more complex than is necessary, clearly described, with the minimum number of implementing entities and the minimum number of grants and contracts. (3) The time schedule in the Project Paper should be carefully thought out and realistic. (4) The statement of work or grant program description is far more important than is realized and requires careful, thoughtful attention.