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Opening court services to peer scrutiny might greatly improve integrity and public trust, new report says

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08 APRIL 2016, Bangkok: Corrupt judicial systems undermine reforms and are a major impediment to ensuring access to justice and human rights for ordinary citizens across the world, says a new report published by the United Nations Development Programme and U4 Anti-corruption Resource Centre on Friday.

Titled, A Transparent and Accountable Judiciary to Deliver Justice for All, the global report cites survey data suggesting that the public perceive the judiciary as the second most corrupt public institution, after the police.

Globally one in four people said they paid a bribe to court officials, according to a 2013 survey by the NGO Transparency International that covered 95 countries.¹ By 2015, TI found that 28% of citizens across Sub-Saharan Africa who had contact with a judge or court official paid a bribe – more than police and any other public sector service.²

“Judicial corruption disproportionately affects the poorest and most marginalised citizens of a community because they are far less likely to be able to pay a bribe or have access to influential networks,” said Patrick Keuleers, Director, Governance and Peacebuilding at UNDP headquarters.

In Bangladesh, for example, the average bribe of US$108 that a court user has to pay accounts for roughly a quarter of the GDP per capita or average annual income in that country, says the report.

“The UN system and its partners support numerous initiatives to strengthen judicial systems around the world, and corruption remains a major stumbling block to the success of these efforts,” Keuleers said.

The UNDP report concludes, however, that opening up judicial systems to scrutiny can strengthen integrity and increase public trust without impeding independence of the judiciary.  

“We are advocating the judiciary to open itself to peer learning by engaging with counterparts in other countries and allowing meaningful capacity assessments that will lead to increased judicial integrity” said Phil Matsheza, Regional Practice Leader in UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub.

The report highlights successful experiences from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Kosovo³, Nepal, Nigeria, Paraguay, Philippines, and Somalia, in promoting transparency and accountability within the judiciary.  

It discusses internal oversight within the judiciary such as judicial councils, and explains the mechanisms used in Somaliland to enforce sanctions against judicial officers in cases of misconduct.

It also looks at how stakeholders such as associations of judges and court users can become allies in reforming judicial systems. For example, the report cites the use of surveys and consultations with court users that have led to more responsive services and reduced demands for bribes in countries such as Kenya and Nigeria.

“Corruption undermines justice in many parts of the world with the poor and vulnerable suffering most,” said Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director of the International Secretariat of Transparency International. “This new report gives critical first-hand answers about promoting integrity in the courts by building citizen and other stakeholders’ support for reforms and by using technology to increase judicial transparency.”

Even in post-conflict environments such as Afghanistan, where change is difficult, NGOs working with citizens to monitor trials in selected provinces have contributed to improving the administration of justice.

While technology is not offered as a panacea to corruption within justice systems, modernisation and automation of judicial services can be key enablers for judicial transparency and accountability, the report adds.   For example, in Indonesia digitising court documents and statistics has helped increase transparency for people who can access judgments online, reduce bureaucracy, and achieve efficiency.

The report stresses that the success of these reforms efforts are predicated on strong political will and national ownership.

The recently adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes key targets for providing access to justice, and tackling corruption. The report provides a fresh perspective on ways to develop integrity plans as part of broader judicial reforms, by illustrating inspirational experiences that countries can adopt to deliver justice for all.

The report was published by UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific and can be accessed online here (http://on.undp.org/dMP)

For additional information, please contact Elodie Beth, UNDP Regional Anti-Corruption Advisor, at elodie.beth@undp.org.

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Notes:

1. Perception survey Global Corruption Barometer, Transparency International, 2013. http://www.transparency.org/gcb2013/report.

2. http://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/people_and_corruption_africa_survey_2015

3. The reference to Kosovo is understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).

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Our experience shows that we can ensure a more transparent construction sector by simply informing people about the kind of work being carried out in their neighborhoods. By disclosing SMG’s construction work information on the Construction Informer website, all the stakeholders, from private contractors to the responsible Seoul government officials, came to adopt a more transparent, responsible, and accountable administration of our public construction development.”

–Mr. Won Soon Park, Mayor of Seoul
2 December 2015 UNDP-SMG workshop on Public Construction Transparency

The UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC) and the Seoul Metropolitan Infrastructure Headquarters (SMIH) of the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) undertook a full-day workshop to discuss the most effective ways to share with developing countries Seoul’s experiences and lessons learned from its Clean Construction System (CCS) through USPC’s Development Solutions Partnership (DSP) on Open Data and Public Construction Management for efficiency, transparency, and integrity in the public construction sector. 

Introduced in 2011, CCS is an effective technological and institutional approach to enhancing transparency, efficiency, and the protection of construction workers’ rights in the public construction sector. The system won the prestigious UN Public Service Award in 2013, in recognition of its innovation and potential for application in other countries.

The workshop was organized to strategize how to provide follow-up support to countries that had participated in the International Workshop on Public Construction Transparency, co-organized by USPC and SMG on 2-4 December 2015, which had shared CCS with some 70 overseas participants from 20 countries around the world.

Based on the demand from the workshop participants for sustained partnerships and support, USPC and SMG in partnership with GAIN had released a Call for Expressions of Interests in February 2016 to solicit proposals from these countries, in order to provide advisory and technical support, combined with seed funding, for their application of the learning points from the December meeting. Almost all of the eligible countries had submitted their proposals, thereby making the selection process very competitive.

At the workshop, participants intensive discussions with Seoul Government partners on how to design and implement effective triangular cooperation among UNDP, SMG, and partner countries. Participants also deliberated each of the submitted proposals against the a set of evaluation criteria l that include implementation opportunities and capacities in candidate countries, project sustainability and ownership, availability of necessary expertise and resources, and quality of the proposed work plans.

Support will be delivered for the period of 2016-2017 to a maximum of five countries selected through this competitive process following further in-depth discussions. DSP partner countries will apply Korea’s CCS and lessons learnt shared at the Workshop, and implement various initiatives to promote more transparent, efficient, and accountable management of the public construction sector through at the country-level, with Seoul’s CCS as a reference point.

Since the early 2015, the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC) has been partnering with the Seoul Metropolitan Infrastructure Headquarters (SMIH) of the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and the UNDP Global Anti-Corruption Initiative (GAIN) to share Seoul’s CCS under the DSP. The ‘Open Data and Public Construction Management’ DSP is one of two DSPs UPSC is currently conducting alongside the ‘Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Systems’ DSP in partnership with Korea’s Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC).

Initiated in 2014, DSP is a new approach for USPC, acting as a knowledge broker and facilitator, to connect Korea with the wider UNDP network and enhance the Korea-UNDP partnership on strategic development issues globally. DSPs work through triangular cooperation among Korean Government institutions, UNDP, and partner countries.

The workshop took place on 14 March, 2016 in Seoul, Korea.

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The Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme India has developed a national-level pool of trainers to conduct training on two thematic areas: Leadership Skills and Ethics. The pool of trainers brings with it the skills and experience of retired and serving officers and faculty of government training institutes.

The pool consists of 53 trainers who have undergone rigorous training on a high quality module developed by reputed institutes and delivered by scientifically trained National Facilitators on a pan India and international basis to ensure better learning of the skills. The trainers have been trained and assessed by the Centre for Creative Leadership and certified by the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India.

The modules have sufficient flexibility to account for local and regional variations. The concept is based on an officer-teach-officer model where trainees learn both from the module and from the personal experiences and sharing of the facilitators. The methodology is extremely participatory and engrossing so that there is deep impact on the trainees. Both modules are available in 2-day and 3-day design formats.

Following the training, these trainers are being successfully deployed in training programmes at the provincial level. Leadership and ethics are at the core of civil services across all countries of the world.  Other countries could also benefit from services of this pool of trainers that has been developed by the Government of India and is being used within the country.

Further information on the training that can be provided by the trainers and the list of trainers can be accessed as per details given below –

http://solutionexchange-un.net.in/ftp/decn/resource/NationalpoolofTrainers-Leadership Skills and Ethics.pdf

http://solutionexchange-un.net.in/ftp/decn/resource/Listoftrainers-Ethics.pdf

http://solutionexchange-un.net.in/ftp/decn/resource/Listoftrainers-Leadership.pdf

http://solutionexchange-un.net.in/ftp/decn/resource/2-daysEVIPG Design.pdf

http://solutionexchange-un.net.in/ftp/decn/resource/3daysEVPG Design.pdf

http://solutionexchange-un.net.in/ftp/decn/resource/BasicLeadershipSkills.pdf

For more information, please contact:

Sumeeta Banerji
Assistant Country Director & Head (Democratic Governance)
United Nations Development Programme
55, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi – 110003
sumeeta.banerji@undp.org

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Niue’s Legislative Assembly Parliamentarians boosted their capacity to undertake their oversight role and gained a deeper understanding of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) at a three-day workshop in the small Pacific island nation.

“Our parliamentarians want to learn more about the UNCAC and how they can oversight more thoroughly financial activities in our economy and country,” said Legislative Assembly Speaker Hon Togiavalu Pihigia.

Acting Premier Hon Billy Talagi, in opening the workshop, said: “Governance is one of our stated national pillars. Transparency and accountability is to be practiced at all levels of government, the Assembly and the community.”

The Acting premier, Assembly members, parliamentary staff, and other stakeholders attended the workshop provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC) through the United Nations Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption (UN-PRAC) Project.

UNDP and UNDP worked together to provide UNCAC capacity-building along with enhancing the important work of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee. Niue is one of only three remaining countries/territories in the Pacific yet to sign on to UNCAC.

UN-PRAC Adviser Annika Wythes emphasized that “Parliamentarians have a key role to play in preventing and indeed fight corruption, often leading by example.

“While Niue may face different challenges to other Pacific nations, there are many benefits for Niue joining the other 11 Pacific countries that have ratified UNCAC,” said Wythes.

GOPAC Oceania Chair John Hyde said that there was strong interest from Assembly Members on learning about best practices and the role of parliamentarian-driven initiatives to build integrity and oversight of government.

Included in the workshop was a dedicated session on the financial oversight role of the Public Accounts Committee, with the New Zealand Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee Chair, Hon David Bennett, assisting as a resource person, as part of UNDP’s governance strengthening programme in the Pacific.

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March 10, 2016 (Nauru) – Community consultation is being fully embraced by Parliamentarians on Nauru – the world’s smallest island state with just 10,000 residents, as they establish their nation’s first Leadership Code.

Parliament Speaker Hon. Ludwig Scotty made the statement at the United Nations Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption (UN-PRAC) Project workshop currently underway at the Parliament of Nauru.

Since October 2015, the Parliament of Nauru has worked with the UN-PRAC Project to undertake workshops on Anti-Corruption and Leadership Code best practices with the Leadership Code Select Parliamentary Committee, Ministers, Speaker and the President, as well as 32 local community “integrity champions” who aimed to canvas the views of every household on the island, as the unicameral Parliament builds its Leadership Code from the grassroots.

“The process of the Leadership Code Select Committee has been as transparent as it could be because of this tremendous exercise of public consultation through its champions. Today’s workshop and the collective input from the community will greatly inform the final shape of the Committee’s report,” said Speaker Ludwig Scotty.

Nauru President H.E. Baron Waqa reinforced his government’s commitment to introducing a Leadership Code that was a product of genuine consultation with the community.

“We don’t have a pre-conceived Leadership Code, we want to first hear from the Nauru people about what they expect of their leaders before we start drafting legislation,” President Waqa told the first workshop.

Community participants at the workshop, who aimed to visit every Nauru household during the month of November, encouraged each other during interview training to ensure they made people feel comfortable to express their real views and not be guided by any of the participants’ opinions.

“Nauru is making sure Parliamentarians and the community are fully involved in implementing and reviewing Nauru’s commitment to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which it signed in 2012 by developing a best practice Leadership Code,” said UN-PRAC Anti-Corruption Consultant John Hyde.

Issues that Nauruans raised during the consultation that they want addressed in the Code include gift-giving, definition of a leader, assets registry, freedom of information access, penalties, and having a system of external oversight.

The Australian Government is supporting the UN-PRAC Project, a four-year USD$4.3m project in the 15 Pacific nations being implemented by UNODC and UNDP.

Source:

From the UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption (UN-PRAC) Project, a joint four-year initiative of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with support from the Australian Government.

For more information on the UN-PRAC Project, you may get in touch with:

Annika Wythes, Anti-Corruption Adviser – Pacific, UNODC, annika.wythes@unodc.org

Luisa Senibulu, Governance Programme Associate, UNDP/UNODC, luisa.senibulu@undp.org

Samita Singh, Programme Assistant – Anti-Corruption, UNDP/UNODC, samita.singh@undp.org

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