Aid on Spreadsheets

Access to Justice Project (A2JP)

The Liberia Access to Justice Project (A2JP) is a $7 million activity with three objectives. The first will support the provision of effective legal information at the community level. The second objective will reinforce capacity of traditional leaders to advance and implement good governance and community justice practices. This will be done through the provision of training and mentoring of national and customary leaders on the rule of law with the ultimate aim of strengthening traditional leaders' capacity to resolve disputes in ways that are consistent with Liberia laws and international human rights norms. Finally, the last objective will support the policy framework as a way of increasing access to justice at the community level, particularly it will provide expanded engagement with policy reform efforts, on issues of Alternative Dispute Resolution and paralegals.

Improve the systems, capacity, and sustainability of civil and criminal justice sector and institutions, improve the ability and skills of justice sector actors, enhance coordination amongst them where appropriate (includes harmonization of policies, procedures, and systems, and public/private partnerships relating to both criminal and civil law). Justice sector actors and institutions include: police, border security, prosecutors, forensics experts, judges, court personnel, public defenders, mediators, arbitrators, conciliators, corrections personnel, private bar, law schools, legal professional associations, and training institutions for each of them. Support educational and training programs for all justice system actors, to include reform of pedagogy and curricula, continuing and in-service training, support of accreditation and legal professional associations to promote professionalism, and encourage public service. Improve administrative and operational systems, including strategic planning, budget, procurement, and personnel.Work towards an equitable justice system by ensuring fairness in law and process. Fairness programs include non-discrimination law fair trial standards, effective administrative law systems to guard against arbitrary government action, and observance by all justice system actors and institutions of international treaties and customary law. Support monitoring and advocacy by justice sector NGOs, including strategic lawyering, trial monitoring, and policy dialogue. Improve equitable access to justice through increasing the quality and quantity of state and non-state justice services, with a particular focus on women, youth, the poor, LGBT persons, and other marginalized or vulnerable groups. This includes access to state and non-state dispute-resolution fora; court re-distribution; mobile courts; the removal of language, gender, cultural, sexual orientation, gender identity and physical barriers; circulation of laws and legal decisions; alternative dispute resolution systems; and expanding access to legal services (e.g., public defenders’ offices, legal aid and legal services, labor law services, justice or legal resources centers). This also includes programs to educate the citizenry about their rights, how to access services, and how to encourage change. Programs primarily focused on trafficking in persons should be captured under PS.5 and programs focused on alien smuggling under PS.4. Strengthen judicial independence as a means to maintain separation of powers and check excessive power in any branch or level of government. Strengthening judicial independence includes reducing improper influences on the judiciary through: open and participatory processes for judicial selection and appointment; security of tenure; satisfactory budget allocations to ensure adequate infrastructure, training, and working conditions; judicial self-governance including management of administrative, budgetary, ethics, and disciplinary processes and reform; and transparent court operations and judicial processes. Enhance the judiciary’s ability to check abuses of power by any branch or level of government through creating and strengthening constitutional or judicial review. This element also helps ensure that government is bound by law, and government decision-making is in accordance with the law. Work to create an independent and impartial justice system through institutional and behavioral change, and also to promote public respect for the justice system and judicial decision-making.

Project ID

US-GOV-1-LR-AID-669-A-16-00006

Activity status

3 - Completion

Aid type

C01 - Project-type interventions

% to Liberia

100.00

Organisations

Accountable

U.S. Agency for International Development

Extending

U.S. Agency for International Development

Funding

U.S. Agency for International Development

Implementing

Carter Center

CRS code	%
Democratic participation and civil society (15150)	8.57
Legal and judicial development (15130)	89.64
Public sector policy and administrative management (15110)	1.79