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EU-Backed GOJUST Programme Hails Bacolod As Newest Justice Zone

August 30, 2019—The European Union (EU), in its commitment to support justice sector reform in the Philippines, welcomed the establishment of Bacolod City as a Justice Zone by the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC).

The JSCC, jointly headed by the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), named Bacolod City as a Justice Zone on the basis of JSCC Joint Resolution No. 05-2019 signed on August 15, 2019 at the Principals’ Meeting in Manila City. 

Representatives from the European Union, DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra, and Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin spearheaded the launch of the newest Justice Zone at the Bacolod City New Government Center.

Justice Zones are areas where local justice sector agencies such as the police, prosecutors, judges, public attorneys, and managers of detentions facilities showed outstanding coordination in identifying and addressing common challenges.

The selection of Bacolod City as the newest Justice Zone reflects the city’s demonstration of converged justice sector reform efforts like jail and court decongestion, the implementation of an electronic court system, peace and order promotion, and efficient public service among others. These reforms make Bacolod City ready to institutionalize speedier coordination among justice sector agencies.

The launch was supported by the Governance in Justice (GOJUST) programme, which aims to facilitate increased communication, coordination and cooperation in the justice sector. To do this, the GOJUST programme taps JSCC at the national level and the roll out of the Justice Zone concept at the local level.

 “The establishment of Bacolod City as the newest Justice Zone shows that the Philippines is making strides to bring about much-needed reforms in its justice system. By fostering cooperation between the Justice Sector Coordinating Council at the national level and the Justice Zone at the local level, we look forward to seeing more reforms on local justice coordination nationwide,” said EU Head of Cooperation Enrico Strampelli. “We are also grateful for the collective leadership of Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra and DILG Secretary Eduardo M.  Año for their commitment to advance this country’s justice reform agenda.”

Through an agreed structure and a two-way communication with the JSCC, piloting of new activities can take place within the Justice Zone.  During the work planning of the Bacolod Justice Zone, stakeholders have proposed to strengthen the communication, coordination, and cooperation within and among criminal justice sector agencies. Stakeholders also agreed to maximize the newly approved guidelines on plea bargaining to get more drug users into rehabilitation instead of incarceration.

Bacolod City is the fifth Justice Zone in the Philippines, with the first being Quezon City – which was launched in 2014, followed by Cebu City in 2018. Other Justice Zones include Davao and Angeles City, which were both launched in the first half of 2019.

For more information, visit www.gojust.org

EU’s GOJUST Programme supports the Angeles City Justice Zone

The European Union welcomes the establishment of the Angeles City Justice Zone by the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) today, April 12, 2019, in support of justice sector reform in the Philippines.

The JSCC, jointly headed by the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, launches Angeles City as a Justice Zone on the basis of Joint Resolution 01-2019 signed on March 7, 2019 at the Principals’ Meeting held in Manila City. 

The Justice Zone is an area where local justice sector agencies such as the police, the prosecutors, judges, public attorneys, and managers of detentions facilities, identify problems and arrive at common solutions to address them. Through an agreed structure, and through two-way communication with the JSCC, piloting of new activities take place within the Justice Zone.   During the work planning of the Angeles City Justice Zone, the members have proposed to improve institutional case management by strengthening communication, coordination, and cooperation within and among criminal justice sector agencies, to enhance the capacity of criminal justice sector agencies through improved human resources, facilities and equipment, and to improve jail conditions, through among others, the paralegal program of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Collectively, they have committed to move forward with reforms with the theme Abe-abe ban matibe (stronger together).

Angeles City is the fourth Justice Zone under the JSCC supported by the European Union.  It has been selected because it has already pioneered justice sector reforms in the region. It is home to pilot projects such as eCourt, automated hearing, eSubpoena and e-Notice and is the site of a model Hall of Justice. 

The first justice zone was launched in Quezon City in 2014 and continues to be an effective mechanism among justice sector agencies in the area. The European Union likewise supported the establishment of the Cebu City Justice Zone in 2018 and Davao City in March 2019 through the Governance in Justice (GOJUST) Programme.  “The European Union remains committed to the Philippine Development Plan by supporting the Justice Sector Coordinating Council at the national level and the Justice Zone at the local level”, said EU Ambassador Franz Jessen.  “This initiative has been made possible under the collective leadership of Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra and DILG Secretary Eduardo M.  Año.  We are confident that this event will spur similar efforts in other parts of the country on local justice coordination. “

EU Ambassador Jessen was joined by Austrian Ambassador Bita Rasoulian, Belgian Ambassador Michel Goffin, Hungarian Ambassador József Bencze, Netherlands Ambassador Elizabeth De Lang, and Spanish Ambassador Jorge Moragas.

The establishment of the new Justice Zone is supported by the GOJUST programme, a three-and-a-half-year justice sector support programme, funded by the EU, which supports the JSCC at the national level and the roll out of the Justice Zone concept at the local level as an important mechanism for sustainable and long-term reforms. GOJUST also works in the area of decongesting the dockets of the courts and the prosecution service, capacity building in financial and administrative management for justice sector agencies, and the automation of various services for case management and expedited hearings.

For more information, visit www.gojust.org        

EU’s GOJUST Programme hails Naga as newest Justice Zone

September 30, 2019—The European Union (EU), in its commitment to support justice sector reform in the Philippines, welcomed the establishment of Naga City as a Justice Zone by the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC).

The JSCC, jointly headed by the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), named Naga City as a Justice Zone on the basis of JSCC Joint Resolution No. 05-2019 signed on August 15, 2019 at the Principals’ Meeting in Manila City. 

Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the EU Delegation to the Philippines,Thomas Wiersing, Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra, and DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año spearheaded the launch of the newest Justice Zone at the Naga City People’s Hall.

Justice Zones are areas where local justice sector stakeholders as the police, prosecutors, judges, public attorneys, and managers of detentions facilities work together to identify and address crosscutting challenges.

The selection of Naga City as the newest Justice Zone reflects the city’s demonstration of converged justice sector reform efforts like jail and court decongestion, the implementation of an electronic court system, peace and order promotion, and efficient public service among others. These reforms make Naga City ready to institutionalize speedier coordination among justice sector agencies.

The European Union’s Governance in Justice (GOJUST) Programme, which aims to facilitate increased communication, coordination and cooperation in the justice sector in the Philippines, aids in the development and creation of justice zones. To do this, GOJUST backs the JSCC at the national level and the rollout of the Justice Zone concept at the local level.

Naga City is the sixth Justice Zone in the Philippines. It is also the first Justice Zone in the Bicol region. The Philippines’ first Justice Zone was launched in Quezon City in 2014. Other Justice Zones in the country include Cebu, Davao, Angeles, and Bacolod cities.

 “The establishment of Naga City as the newest Justice Zone demonstrates how the justice sector in different parts of the country is committed to accelerating much-needed reforms. With Justice Zones across the country emerging fast, we hope that they can be a springboard for a more efficient justice system throughout the country,” said Chargé d’Affaires Thomas Wiersing.  “These achievements would not have been possible without the collective leadership and commitments of the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.”

Through an agreed structure and a two-way communication with the JSCC, piloting of new activities can take place within the Justice Zone. During the work planning of the Naga Justice Zone, stakeholders have committed to work together to strengthen communication, coordination, and cooperation within and among criminal justice sector agencies. Stakeholders also agreed to maximize the newly approved guidelines on plea bargaining to get more drug users into rehabilitation instead of incarceration.

For more information, visit www.gojust.org

The Cebu City Justice Zone celebrates its first anniversary: what has been achieved so far?

• Launched on 4 October 2018, the Cebu City Justice Zone marks first year

• Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and University of San Carlos addresses jail congestion in Cebu City jails

• The European Union supports justice sector reform initiatives of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government through the Governance in Justice (GOJUST) Programme. The support to the creation of justice zones is one of the activities of the GOJUST programme.

GOJUST hails the Cebu City Justice Zone as they mark their first year with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the University of San Carlos (USC) to address the issue of heavily congested jails in Cebu City.

Cebu City Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Macaundas M. Hadjirasul, convenor of the Cebu City Justice Zone, led the Cebu City Justice Zone first anniversary ceremony at the BJMP women’s dorm in Kalunasan, Cebu City. Established in 4 October 2018, the Cebu City Justice Zone reported increased cooperation and collaboration among the justice sector stakeholders. The Cebu City JZ has facilitated talks between the BJMP and the Metro Cebu Water District resulting in a weekly delivery of 30,000 tons of water to the jail to address health and sanitation needs.  With the help of the Supreme Court Office of the Court Administrator, a uniform court action on hospitalization and medical examination for persons deprived of liberty was established. A facility providing a conducive interview area at the BJMP Male dormitory was also turned over to the BJMP by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City Chapter, facilitated by the justice zone.

GOJUST remains to be a staunch supporter of the Cebu City Justice Zone and their activities and projects. With funds from the European Union, GOJUST has supported the training of personnel from the BJMP, Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, and Parole and Probation Administration, on the ASSIST BI (Alcohol Substance Smoke Involvement Screening Test Brief Intervention) Tool to address the processing of plea-bargaining in response to the Supreme Court Guidelines on Plea-bargaining for drugs cases. GOJUST will likewise support the installation of a visitor management and e-dalaw system at the BJMP male dormitory. 

“We commend the Cebu City Justice Zone, led by Executive Judge Macaundas Hadjirasul. On your first year, your gains clearly demonstrate that coordination and cooperation at the local level makes justice delivery swifter and more efficient, said Christian Eldon, GOJUST Team Leader.

About GOJUST

With support from the European Union, the Justice Sector Reform Programme: Governance in Justice (GOJUST) supports the development and early implementation of a credible sector-wide long-term reform strategy through the provision of technical and financial assistance.

The Programme focuses on three inter-related components aimed respectively at laying the ground for reforms through i.) strengthening sector coordination and policy-making; ii) creating space for reform implementation through decongestion and automation; and iii) generating resources for reform through the improvement of administrative and financial management.

The programme will be implemented from April 2016 to June 2020.

www.gojust.org

About Justice Zones

Justice Zones are areas where local justice sector agencies such as the police, prosecutors, judges, public attorneys, and managers of detentions facilities showed outstanding coordination in identifying and addressing common challenges. Through an agreed structure and a two-way communication with the JSCC, piloting of new activities can take place within the Justice Zone.