Quarterly Report October 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019
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QUARTERLY REPORT OCTOBER 1, 2019 – DECEMBER 31, 2019 JUSTICE MATTERS Contract: 72016718C00002 Implemented by: National Center for State Courts 2425 Wilson Blvd, Suite 350 Arlington VA, 22201 Program Address: Str. Andrea Gropa 98/1 10000 Pristina, Kosovo January 15, 2020 DISCLAIMER This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by the National Center for State Courts. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. USAID Contract 72016718C00002 National Center for State Courts Justice Matters – Quarterly Report January 15, 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................................................................ii ABOUT Justice Matters ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Objectives .................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Strategic Framework ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Highlights ............................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Implementation Context .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Section 1 – Activities & Results ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Objective 1: Strengthen the Capacity of Kosovo’s Legal Aid System ........................................................... 4 Objective 2: Enhance the Quality and Responsiveness of Legal Aid Services ............................................. 6 Objective 3: Strengthen Legal Literacy and Citizen Empowerment ............................................................ 10 Cross-Cutting Activities ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Section II - REPORTS AND DELIVERABLES ............................................................................................................ 14 Reports and Deliverables Produced This Quarter .......................................................................................... 14 SECTION III – PMP PROGRESS .................................................................................................................................. 15 Performance Management Plan – Outcome and Indicator Chart………………………............Annex 1 Page i USAID Contract 72016718C00002 National Center for State Courts Justice Matters – Quarterly Report January 15, 2019 LIST OF ACRONYMS COP Chief of Party CSD Communication for Social Development (CSO) CSGD Centre for Social Group Development (CSO) CSO Civil Society Organization DO Development Objective E4E Equality for All Program ERAC Equal Rights Coalition FGD Focus Group Discussions FLAA Free Legal Aid Agency FLA Free Legal Aid GIZ German Development Agency GLPS Group for Legal and Political Studies (CSO) GOK Government of Kosovo INL Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs IR Intermediate Result JSSP Justice Sector Strengthening Program KBA Kosovo Bar Association KCSS Kosovo Centre for Security Studies KII Key Informant Interviews LGBTI Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex MCLE Mandatory Continuing Legal Education NCSC National Center for State Courts OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe RAE Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian USAID United States Agency for International Development USG United States Government Page ii USAID Contract 72016718C00002 National Center for State Courts Justice Matters – Quarterly Report January 15, 2019 ABOUT JUSTICE MATTERS OBJECTIVES The Justice Matters activity is a three-year rule of law program that builds upon the prior investments of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in improving access to justice and legal literacy in Kosovo. Through strengthening legal aid institutions, actors, and processes as well as improving the quality and availability of information on legal aid resources, Justice Matters will improve access to justice for all, inclusive of disadvantaged and marginalized groups and communities. Program activities focus on three main objectives: Objective 1: Strengthen the Capacity of Kosovo’s Legal Aid System Objective 2: Enhance the Quality and Responsiveness of Legal Aid Services Objective 3: Strengthen Legal Literacy and Citizen Empowerment The Justice Matters activity will address the three interrelated objectives in coordination with key local counterpart institutions and groups. Through engaging institutional partners including the Free Legal Aid Agency (FLAA) and Legal Aid Council in coordination with legal professionals within the Kosovo Bar Association (KBA), civil society stakeholders, and university legal clinics, the activity will promote effective systems, increased supply, and informed demand for legal aid. By engaging a broad group of local stakeholders and counterparts, the activity will promote both systems-level reforms to the delivery of legal aid and community-level advocacy and interventions to assure fair, responsive, and accessible legal aid. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK Justice Matters seeks to improve access to justice for all through strengthening institutions, actors, and processes for providing legal aid, services, and information under USAID Development Objective (DO) 1: Improved Rule of Law and Governance that Meet Citizen’s Needs. The relevant Intermediate Results (IR) are: IR 1.1 MORE EFFICIENT, TRANSPARENT, INDEPENDENT, AND ACCOUNTABLE JUSTICE SECTOR IR 1.4 CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENED TO INCREASINGLY ENGAGE CONSTRUCTIVELY WITH GOVERNMENT Justice Matters strengthens systems for legal aid service delivery, increases supply of quality legal aid services, and increases informed demand for legal aid through three inter-connected objectives: (1) Strengthen the Capacity of Kosovo’s Legal Aid System; (2) Enhance the Quality and Responsiveness of Legal Aid Services; and (3) Strengthen Legal Literacy and Citizen Empowerment. In addition, program implementation will support an internship program linking law students and legal professionals. Page 1 USAID Contract 72016718C00002 National Center for State Courts Justice Matters – Quarterly Report January 15, 2019 HIGHLIGHTS Justice Matters continued activities this quarter to strengthen the capacity of the legal aid system, enhance the quality and responsiveness of legal aid services and strengthen legal literacy and citizen empowerment in Kosovo. Specific activities for each component are highlighted below. OBJECTIVE 1 – Strengthen the Capacity of Kosovo’s Legal Aid System Justice Matters technical support will address key challenges to the full implementation of the Law on Free Legal Aid, particularly resource shortfalls, regulatory weakness, and gaps in institutional capacity. During the past quarter, Justice Matters supported strategic planning and identification of reform priorities through support to the FLA Transition Team and Acting Executive Director of the FLAA. Notable achievements and highlights from this quarter included: 3 Transition Team meetings facilitated to identify strategic reform priorities including Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) for legal officers and mobilization of legal aid service providers. Draft 2020 Strategic Action Plan for Acting Exec. Director to align strategy with identified Transition Team priorities for 2020 including MCLE, outreach strategy, and preparation of 2021 FLAA budget. OBJECTIVE 2 – Enhance the Quality and Responsiveness of Legal Aid Services Justice Matters technical support will enhance the quality and availability of legal aid services by expanding access to services and strengthening standardization and training for legal aid providers. During the past quarter, Justice Matters disseminated findings from Mapping of Community Justice Needs, continued strengthening legal clinic programs as an institutionalized nexus for FLAA, KBA, and Civil Society Organization (CSO) joint outreach activities, and worked with KBA to foster pro-bono culture among lawyers. Notable achievements and highlights from this quarter included: 14 Legal Aid First Response Hubs reported 526 beneficiaries receiving legal information from October to December 2019 with 57 referred directly to the FLAA for additional support. 2 Operational Strengthening Workshops for FLAA Regional Officers to facilitate collaborative problem-solving and exchange of best practices for common challenges encountered in service delivery throughout Kosovo. This quarter, topics for workshops included training needs assessments, case monitoring, and outreach strategies related to Human Rights Week. 5 roundtables hosted to disseminate key findings of annual Mapping of Community Justice Needs to local FLAA, KBA, CSO, and university partners in Prizren,