Eritrea

Capacity Building in the Justice Sector :

BACKGROUND

At the time of Independence, Eritrea did not have its own civil law system in place. The only legal instruments available were those introduced by the Ethiopian government, which did not reflect the socio-cultural and traditional values of the Eritrean society. In the interim, Eritrea adopted, with some amendments, the Ethiopian civil law system as provisional measure to developing its own legal system. Despite being amended, these de facto legal instruments failed to reflect the economic and social policies and principles of the new State of Eritrea. On the other hand, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) lacked the institutional capacity and human resources base necessary for carrying out its legislative mandate efficiently and overseeing administrative matters in Eritrean Courts effectively. This calls for comprehensive revision of the various legal codes and the strengthening of the institutional and human resources capacity of the justice sector.

OBJECTIVES

 • To formalize and expand the use of Community-Based Dispute Resolution mechanisms;

 • To enhance the efficiency of the Advocate-General Department;

PROGRAMME DETAILS

In keeping with Country Cooperation Framework (CCF, 2002-2006) signed between the Government and UNDP, this project supports MoJ by strengthening the capacity of the Legal Services Department in developing key pieces of legislative and regulatory frameworks needed to support the rule of law, social justice, and a market economy. In the context of the CCF, support will be provided to build capacity of the various arms of the justice system and that of selected institutions to enable them to implement the approved laws. In addition, the support will benefit the Eritrean community by providing a system of justice that is fair, understandable, transparent, efficient and effective. The Ministry of Justice is the designated institution for implementing the project.

RESULTS

• Capacity for drafting and reviewing laws and other legal instruments enhanced.

• Selected regulations and statutes, representing the basic legal framework for commercial activities and other key areas drafted.

• Flaws embedded in existing Laws and Regulations (such as unconstitutionality, contradictions to Superior Law, obsolescence and incompleteness) rectified.

• A civic education Programme for legal dissemination developed and implemented.

• An effective national system of community-based mechanisms for Dispute Resolution instituted and functional.

• Legal codes harmonized.