Governance in Justice:
A Justice Sector Reform Programme
The Justice Sector Reform Programme: Governance in Justice (GOJUST) is born from the development cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the government of the Philippines, and reflects a shared vision of improved governance including the rule of law. GOJUST helps in strengthening the Philippines’ formal justice system through increased efficiency, effectiveness and accountability. GOJUST ultimately aims to contribute to inclusive growth and poverty reduction in the country.
Results
Justice Sector Coordination
Sector-wide coordination of the justice system strengthened and long-term reform strategy developed
Result 1 will contribute to structural reforms through the institutionalisation of a permanent coordinating and policy-making body at the national level through the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC), supporting priority programmes and activities of the JSCC. Furthermore, roll-out of local mechanisms for coordination in the form of Justice Zones and the strengthening of communication between these two levels will be supported. A holistic approach to justice service delivery with the introduction of new structures for more evidence-based and inclusive policy-making, as well as systems-level performance monitoring and evaluation can fundamentally change the way the justice sector crafts policy and monitors performance. This can pave the way for government-owned sustainable reforms once adopted as part of a national development policy with sector recognition and sector budget support.

EU allocates almost PHP 10 Million from the GOJUST Programme to support justice sector agencies in their response to COVID19
Press Release/ 9 June 2020 The European Union through the Governance in Justice Programme has allocated Php 10 million to support justice sector agencies in their response to COVID19. Mr. Thomas Wiersing, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the European Union Delegation...
Case Management
Backlog curtailed in courts and prosecution services and case management system streamlined and computerised (with focus on ‘justice zones’)
Result 2 will support activities towards the improved efficiency of individual justice sector agencies in the delivery of their services. Docket decongestion of 160 courts and 100 prosecution offices is recognized as a key step in justice sector reform. This paves the way for other reforms such as contniuous trial.
GOJUST will also work with partner institutions in streamlining case management processes through the conduct of studies, developing best practice guidelines, production of relevant manuals and the roll-out of electronic case management systems such as the eCourts.

The European Union Provides Equipment to the Philippine Courts in aid of COVID-19 response
The European Union Provides Equipment to the Philippine Courts in aid of COVID-19 response PRESS RELEASE/ 24 July 2020 The European Union, through the GOJUST Programme, turned over 70 laptops worth Php 3M to the Supreme Court in support of efforts to conduct...
Court Administration and Financial Management
Justice Sector agencies’ administrative and financial management systems improved
Result 3 seeks to strengthen court administration, human resource management, financial management, and high level performance management of the judiciary and the Department of Justice. This result area can be viewed as the institutional strengthening of key actors in the justice system in the capacity for and the appreciation of the need for structural reforms and evidence-based policy making. The general approach taken in this key result area is to determine the current initiatives of the Judiciary and the Department of Justice, and ensure that the interventions would complement and support these initiatives. Finally, it is anticipated that by supporting the process of justice sector-wide planning through the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), the performance governance system of the Judiciary and the Department of Justice will be improved.

GOJUST Supports Training on New Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases
GOJUST Supports Training on New Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases Towards a Faster, More Responsive Justice System Robert Francis Garcia With more than 600,000 cases pending in Philippine courts each year for the past decade, the European Union...
Capacity Building for Human Rights Institutions
Capacity Building for Human Rights Institutions
Result 4 is implemented by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and seeks to strengthen national/regional human rights institutions’ and CSOs’ capacity to promote accountability and fight impunity for major human rights violations.
Stories Coming Soon
Stories Coming Soon Watch out for new articles soon. Latest Articles EU supports National Justice Information SystemEU-Backed GOJUST Programme Hails Bacolod As Newest Justice ZoneEU’s GOJUST Programme supports the Angeles City Justice ZoneEU’s GOJUST Programme hails...
GOJUST Quick Facts
Implementing Agencies
Supreme Court of the Philippines
Department of Justice
Department of the Interior and Local Government
Funding Agency
European Union
Programme Time Frame
April 2016 to October 2019
Executing Agency
British Council (Direct Management)
United Nations Office of Project Services (Programme Implementation)
AECID (Indirect Management)
Programme Beneficiaries
Justice Sector Coordinating Council and its member institutions
News
The European Union Provides Equipment to the Philippine Courts in aid of COVID-19 response
The European Union Provides Equipment to the Philippine Courts in aid of COVID-19 response PRESS RELEASE/ 24 July 2020 The European Union, through the GOJUST Programme, turned over 70 laptops worth Php 3M to the Supreme Court in support of efforts to conduct...
The European Union provides support to the penitentiary system to face COVID-19
The European Union provides support to the penitentiary system to face COVID-19 PRESS RELEASE/ 16 July 2020 In its commitment to support justice sector reform in the Philippines, the European Union (EU) through the Governance in Justice (GoJust) Programme is providing...
EU allocates almost PHP 10 Million from the GOJUST Programme to support justice sector agencies in their response to COVID19
Press Release/ 9 June 2020 The European Union through the Governance in Justice Programme has allocated Php 10 million to support justice sector agencies in their response to COVID19. Mr. Thomas Wiersing, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the European Union Delegation...
Announcements

The European Union provides support to the penitentiary system to face COVID-19
The European Union provides support to the penitentiary system to face COVID-19 PRESS RELEASE/ 16 July 2020 In its commitment to support justice sector reform in the Philippines, the European Union (EU) through the Governance in Justice (GoJust) Programme is providing...
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