In Focus /
Training of ‘non-professional’ judges in Eastern Chad
Engineers from MINURCAT erect a tent for the Chadian police force to provide security for internally displaced persons and refugees.
The Judiciary Advisory Unit (JAU) of the United Nations Mission in Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have developed and begun to implement a training programme for 155 ‘non-professional’ and ‘auxiliary’ judges (i.e., ‘sous préfets’, ‘sous préfets adjoints’ and ‘agents sous préfectoraux’) from five regions and thirteen districts in Eastern Chad to strengthen the rule of law in the area.
This programme, funded by the Federal Republic of Germany, aims to enhance the capacity of ‘non-professional’ and ‘auxiliary’ judges to deliver justice until professional justices of the peace are selected, recruited and trained by the government. In the training, the judges learned, among other subjects, about the Chadian justice system, the legal and ethical role of judges, the criminal code and rules of procedures, as well as the alternate methods of conflict resolution. The programme seeks to target actors at the lower levels of the judicial hierarchy as they are the closest contact that the population has with the judicial system.
National stakeholders, namely the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Interior, the judicial authorities, the National School of Administration and Magistrates, and the Adam Barka University were involved in the development of the programme at every stage, thus facilitating national ownership of the programme. The programme, as formulated, is also in line with the recommendations contained in the General Statements of Justice of 2003, and is reflected in the Project of Justice Reform (PROREJ), which was established by a presidential decree in 2005.
After the training, most ‘non-professional’ and ‘auxiliary’ judges held meetings with administrative, military, police, traditional and customary authorities in their districts and regions to explain the role of each entity in the justice and security sector. Public hearings on this topic were also held in Matajana and Tine in the Wadi Fira region, Am Dam in the Sila region and Adré in the Ouaddaï region.
Chadian public authorities in the districts and regions concerned will set up control, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to consolidate the benefits of this training. Other partners, such as MINURCAT, UNDP, other UN agencies, the European Union and civil society organisations involved in the rule of law field, will contribute through logistical and infrastructural support, and mentoring, advising and providing legal documentation for the ‘non-professional’ and ‘auxiliary’ judges. The programme also includes a component aimed at increasing awareness on access to justice amongst the local population, with a particular emphasis on displaced persons, women, children and prisoners.
This programme is complementary to other rule of law activities conducted by the UN in Eastern Chad . UNDP has been promoting the rule of law through its Early Recovery programme. In 2009, together with MINURCAT/JAU and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNDP supported the Court of Appeal in organizing mobile criminal sessions. UNDP has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chadian Bar Association to run a two year project geared towards establishing the Maison des Avocats d’Abéché, a civil society group dedicated to legal aid.