USAID/Mongolia :: Program Update :: Program Archives

The mission of NCSC is to improve the administration of justice through leadership and service to state courts, and courts around the world. Through original research, consulting services, publications, and national educational programs, NCSC offers solutions that enhance court operations with the latest technology; collects and interprets the latest data on court operations nationwide; and provides information on proven "best practices" for improving court operations. NCSC disseminates information to state court leaders on key national policy issues, and helps advocate their policies with Congress as well as supporting several prestigious national organizations. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) opened an office in Ulaanbaatar in April 2001. Since the program's launch, NCSC has worked closely with Mongolian counterparts in the justice sector to achieve a number of successes. [visit NCSC/Mongolia]

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Contact the Mission

USAID/Mongolia
P.O. Box 1021
Ulaanbaatar-13
MONGOLIA
Phone: 976-11-312390
Fax: 976-11-310440
Email the Mission

Judicial Reform Program

In 2000, Mongolia passed a Strategic Plan for the Justice System of Mongolia and USAID/Mongolia designed the Judicial Reform Project (JRP ) to help with plan implementation. The National Center for State Courts was retained to carry out the work. JRP is scheduled to run from 2001-2009.

Details

Chief Judge of the Dornod Aimag court at his office working on this computer through a local area network. Photo: MJRP/Ganbat Chalkhaa

Activities

JRP ’s main area of concentration is the judicial sector, including the courts and related agencies and organizations. It focuses on six major tasks:

1. Improving Judicial Independence
JRP works to improve transparency and efficiency in court administration by helping the General Council of Courts put workable procedures in place. The project also works to ensure that local court administrators are trained to carry out national policies. With assistance from the project, Mongolia has automated all 61 of its courts. In each, it automated case management procedures and records; initiated automated random assignment of cases; created public information areas; and put in place more efficient records management processes. This has significantly improved transparency and efficiency, and reduced opportunities for system manipulation. Public access terminals in each court make case information available to lawyers, litigants, and the public. In 2005 a central database will be created and case information will become available on the internet.

2. Building the Capacity of Legal Institutions
JRP is strengthening the General Council of Courts with improved budgeting expertise and creation of a national case information database. It will also help improve the management capacity of the Office of the Prosecutor General, and help the Mongolian Advocates Association become a Bar Association capable of monitoring ethics and improving member skills. JRP comments on key legislation and Supreme Court interpretations, and it is developing a joint procedural manual for courts prosecutors and investigators to provide uniform implementation of key provisions to ensure compliance with international standards for human rights and enhance coordination among justice sector institutions.

3. Training and Continuing Legal Education
JRP helped create and build management capacity in the National Legal Center (NLC), which has the mandate to retrain legal professionals. Together with the GTZ, the project has also developed a group of skilled trainers who now form the core of NLC instructors. JRP continues to develop new courses in areas such as ethics and domestic violence, as well as improving the skills of trainers and bringing new courses to judges and other legal professionals in the countryside.

4. Establishing Legal Professional Qualifications
JRP has helped the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs to administer the first qualification exam for legal professionals—fairly and transparently. It has also helped develop amendments to the law that will ensure administration of better-prepared and more impartial exams.

5. Ethics in the Legal Profession
JRP works in several ways to strengthen justice sector integrity. A U.S. prosecutor with experience investigating and prosecuting corruption worked with the Prosecutor General’s Special Investigation Unit, which is charged with investigating crimes by justice sector officials, and JRP provided equipment and training to the new office. The project has also assisted the new Judicial Disciplinary Committee with equipment and training, and it has provided advice on the new Judicial Ethics Code and the draft Law on Courts to create an improved disciplinary mechanism for judges.

6. Public Education
In conjunction with GTZ and PACT, JRP has created the highly rated and award winning program “Legal Hour”, which uses dramatizations to educate the public on its rights under the Criminal Procedure Code. An award winning radio drama with the same aim was produced for rural residents. JRP has trained journalists on how to report on legal issues and continues to train the public affairs officers of justice sector agencies. The project produces a “Rule of Law” newsletter to assist donor coordination and inform NGOs and the public of justice sector reform activities. It also sponsors regular columns on legal issues by justice sector agencies, and has produced posters on a wide variety of legal issues.