Building Effective Justice Systems

Results achieved as of June 2013 include: 2 397 people (35% women) including judges police officers prosecutors technicians investigators and forensic doctors were trained in Crime Scene Examination Major Case Management Investigation and Oral Trials Techniques Trainings exceeding the target of 2 300. Of these people 920 (26% women) were from Guatemala; 615 (34% women) were from El Salvador; 627 (48% women) were from Honduras and 235 (31% women) were from Ethiopia and 230 of them were trained as trainers. The participation rate of women in training activities rose from 28% in 2011-2012 to 35% in 2012-2013. These results contributed to strengthening the criminal justice systems in all target countries. The project has also contributed to developing Central American initiatives to increase cooperation training and motivation for justice reform. Government officials in each country reported that (i) police and prosecutors are better able to coordinate at crime scenes; (ii) more evidence is being produced at trials which better corroborates witness testimony; (iii) police and prosecutors are taking the initiative to monitor results together and; (iv) police and prosecutors demonstrated greater public confidence in the criminal justice system. In Ethiopia a lawyer and gender educator reported that “the JES training helps Ethiopian police officers to better understand the suffering faced by victims of violence and for the first time they are learning how to address the level of threat”. In Guatemala police from British Columbia shared modern crime scene investigation approaches which led to an increase in the homicide cases being resolved from 5% in 2009 to 28% in 2013. In El Salvador the implementation of the Crime Scene Examination course increased arrests and convictions. In Honduras locals have been trained to train others in Major Case Management Investigation.