PROJECT PAPER EQUIVALENT FOR THE IMPROVED JUSTICE SECTOR SUPPORT

PROJECT - COLOMBIA

Presented to AID/Colombia

Administration of Justice Requirements Contract Contract Number LAC-002-C-00-9034-00

Technical Service Order No. 32

Submitted byChecchi and Company Consulting, Inc.

1730 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. Wa.-hington, D.C. 20036

May 15, 1991

JUSTICE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT -- COLOMBIA

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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

II.BACKGROUND 5

A. Country Situation -- Political and Economic 5

B. Justice Sector 7

1. Institutions and Operations 7

2. Major Problems 10

C. Past and Current USG Assistance to the Justice Sector 11

I.AID-FES Grant 13

2. Protection of Judges 14

3. Evidence Sharing 14

D. Other Donor Assistance 15

11. PROJECT STRATEGY 15

A. Strategy of the Government of Colombia for the Justice Sector 15

B. USG Strategy for the Justice Sector 17

C. Relationship of the Project to Past and Current USG Assistance and to the GOC's Strategy 18

IV.PROJECT DESCRIPTION 22

A. Goal, Purpose and Results 22

B. Components of the Project 25

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1. Improved Organization of the Justice Sector and Improved Planning, Monitoring and Coordination of the Operation of the Justice Sector's Organizations 25 a. Objectives and End-of-Project Status 25 b. Restructuring of the Responsibilities and

Administration of the Sector Organizations 26 c. Creation of a Planning System for the

Justice Sector and Its Organizations 27 d. Creation of a Unified Information System

and Research Program for the Justice Sector 28 e. Monitoring and Evaluation of the

Performance of the Sector's Organizations 29 f. Protection of Justice Sector Personnel from Intimidation 31 g. Public's Perception Concerning the Operation

of the Sector and Its Organizations 31 h. Public Education in Human Rights and the Legal Process 32 i. Fund for Further Analyses and Targets of Opportunity 34

2. Increased Effectiveness of the Investigationand Prosecution of Serious Crimes 34 a. Objectives and End-of-Project Status 34 b. Implementation of the Special

Jurisdiction of Public Order 34 c. Improvement in the Operation

of the Ordinary Jurisdiction 35 d. Creation of a Public Prosecutors' Office 38 e. Strengthening the Public Defenders' Office 41 f. Participation by the Private Sector 42 g. Oversight by the Public Ministry 44

3. Improved Operation and StrengthenedIndependence of the Court System 46 a. Objectives and End-of-Project Status 46 b. Design of the Organization of the

Institute for Judicial Administration 47 c. Strengthening Key Functions of the

Institute fcr Judicial Administration 48

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d. Systemization and Consolidation ofInternal Court Support Services 48

e. Provision of Legal Information to the Courts 50 f. Strengthening the Capability

and Role of the Judicial School 50 g. Training Program for the Personnel of the Court System 53 h. Morale and Dedication of Judges 53 i. Fostering the Use of Conciliation and Community Justice 54

V. SUMMARY PROJECT BUDGET 55

VI. PROJECT ANALYSES 60

A. Administrative Analysis - FES 60

B. Political and Social Soundness Analysis 61

C. Legal/Technrcal Soundness Analysis 63

D. Financial Analysis 64

1. Counterpart Contributions 64

2. Prospects for Post-Project Supportfor the Project's Activities 64

3. Administrative Costs 65

4. U.S. and Local Costs 68

VII. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 68

A. Obligation Arrangements 68

B. Conditions Precedent, Covenants and Policy Dialogue 68

C. Implementation Arrangements and Timing 70

1. Responsibilities 70

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2. In-Country Presence 73 3. Timing 74

D. Monitoring and Reporting 76

E. Audits and Evaluations 76

F. Procurement Plan 77

G. Methods of Disbursement 79

ANNEXES

I. Description of the Justice Sector Institutions

2. The GOC's Justice Sector Strategy 3. Political and Social Soundness Analysis 4. The Judicial School and the Judicial Training Program 5. Administrative Analysis of FES 6. Justification for the Non-Competitive

Selection of Implementation Agents 7. List of Key Actions and Target Dates for the

First Eighteen Months of the Project's Implementation 8. Detailed Ccmponent Budgets 9. Administrative Cost Issues

10. Program Proposals, Budgets and Supporting Analyses from FES (inthe Project Files)

11. Program Proposal, Budget and Action Plan from ICITAP (inthe Project Files)

12. Environmental Determination (inthe Project Files) 13. Statutory Checklist (inthe Project Files) 14. Unit Cost Reference Buok (inthe Project Files)

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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

AID/Colombia proposes that AID authorize $36 million of ESF for obligationduring FY 1991-FY 1994 insupport of a four-year Justice Sector Support ProjectinColombia. The authorized amount will be obligated through a Project Agreementwith the Government of Colombia which also will be signed by representatives of the judicial branch and of the Public Ministry. The FY 1991 obligation is to be $6.5 million. Sub-obligations will be made through a transfer of funds to other USG agencies, through a contact agreement with the Foundation for HigherEducation (FES) and through direct procurement of goods and services by A.I.D. The Government of Colombia will provide the equivalent of $7 million theto Project. The total Project cost is $43 million.

The Project supports the justice sector reform objectives of the Government of Colombia, and responds to the interest of the USG inimproving the performanceof that sector inorder to enable the GOC better to control drug trafficking and terrorism and to strengthen the support of the population for legal proceduresand democratic institutions. The Project builds on the analytical work and the pilot activities conducted under the $2.814 million AID Grant to FES which has been in operation since 1986 and which will be completed in June 1991, as well as on the work of other USG agencies with the sector's organizations. Particular attention will be placed on improving the security of the personnel of the sector so that they can perform their responsibilities free of intimidation.

Goal

The goal of the Project is to strengthen civilian government institutions so that they merit the confidence of political and military leaders, the generalpopulation and investors.

Purpose and Impact

The purpose of the Project is to increase the effectiveness and fairness of the Colombian justice system and inparticular of the criminal justice aspectsof that system. Progress on the achievement of the purpose will be measured through the following categories of impact:

The number of convictions achieved related to acts of organized crime;

The rate of acceptance of the results of criminal investigations by the courts;

The percent of criminal cases which are taken to judgment and the average time it takes between the opening of the investigation and the passing of sentence;

The number of cases which are pending resolution by the court system ingeneral and the penal courts in particular;

The percentage of criminal defendants who are represented bydefense counsel;

The number of criminal and disciplinary actions which &re brought against justice sector personnel for the violation of human rights and illicit enrichment;

The opinion of the population re the effectiveness and fairness of the justice system.

Approach and Results

The approach of the Project is:

To achieve mutual supportive programs by the justice sector's organizations through coordinated research, planning and operations;

To improve the effectiveness and fairness of the investigationand prosecution of serious crimes through the of betteruse trained and organized investigators and the creation of a prosecutorial function; and

To strengthen the operations and the independence of the court system through the better training of its personnel, the use of modern management techniques and the provision of more effective support services.

The following are the major results which are expected from the Project:

A multiyear justice sector plan will exist and be used by thevarious sector organizations to guide their operations, and a system will be in place for the periodic updating of that plan;

A system will exist for conducting coordinated research on theproblems facing the sector and the operation of its organizations;

A system will be in place for assessing the performance of the sector's organizations and their personnel;

A system will exist for coordinating the training programsrelevant to the personnel of the various sector organizations (including the police forces);

A system will be in place for assessing threats against the integrity of the justice system and its personnel, and the sector will be able to protect its personnel from intimidation and corruption;

A Public Prosecutors' Office will have been created and staffed and be functioning satisfactorily;

The several police investigatory forces will perform their work in a coordinated way, and be responsive to the guidance of the courts and the Public Prosecutors' Office;

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The Public Ministry, in cooperation with the sector's organizations, will have the capacity to investigate infractions and crimes by the personnel of the justice sector;

The court system will be effectively incharge of its financial, material and human resources;

A fully elaborated merit system for the selection, evaluation and promotion of the personnel of the court system and with appropriate levels of compensation for the personnel will be in use;

The administrative offices of the court system will be utilizingcomputer technology wherever such technology is appropriate;

The judges and magistrates will have been supplied with access to such legal materials as are necessary for them to meet their responsibilities; and

A system of conciliation centers will be in place and their personnel trained to provide methods of dispute resolution alternative to that of the formal court system.

Components

The Project will consist of the following three components.

Improved Organization of the Justice Sector and ImprovedPlanning, Monitoring and Coordination of the Operations of the Justice Sector's Organizations. A major objective of the GOC's justice sector reform program is to rationalize the operationof the sector and its organizations using the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) as the guiding institution. The Project will support this objective in several ways. It will assist in analyzing the implications of the decisions reached by the Constituent Assembly and in preparing the normative arrangements, regulations and plans of action needed to carryout the reorganization of the sector's responsibilities. It will assist in preparing a justice sector plan and in strengthening the research and planning capability of the sector's organizations. It will assist in the creation of a unified information system for the sector and of standards and procedures for evaluating the performance of the sector's organizations and of their personnel. Itwill assist the MOJ to create a capacity to assess and react to threats against the personnel of the sector's organizations, and will conduct pilotactivities in new techniques of relating to the press and providing information to the public concerning the operation of the sector's organizations. The Project also will finance a contract with a Colombian university to educate the publicbetter concerning its legal rights and duties, and will provide

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a fund for addressing unexpected issues and opportunities which may arise.

Increased Effectiveness of the Investigation and Prosecution of Crime. Early priority will be given to completion of the implementation of the Special Jurisdiction (including the protection of selected judicial personnel) which was undertaken with the help of the current AID Grant to FES. The focus of the component will be on providing training, technical assistance and specialized equipment to the police and judicial personnel(including the new prosecutors) who are responsible for the investigation of serious crimes, on creating mechanisms for coordinating the work of that personnel and on establishing the new organization to carry out the public prosecution function. The Project also will provide training, technical assistance and specialized equipment to the Public Ministry to enable it to conduct effective oversight of the personnel of the justicesector's organizations. Support for the participation of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice process and strengthening of the public defense counsel system will be provided through pilot activities.

Improved Operation and Strengthened Independence of the Court System. This component will strengthen the administration and operation of the court system and the training programs beingprovided through the Judicial School. Work on administration will focus on the greater use of automation, the further decentralization of responsibilities, the use of common supportservices by judges, and the creation of systems for gatheringinformation, planning and managing personnel. Work on trainingwill focus on the institutional strengthening of the Judicial School and on the preparation of materials and instructors for new topics -- especially to those related to the investigationof crime and to modern administrative methods. The Project also will assist in carrying forward the effort already undertaken to provide judges with organized information on current legislation and court decisions and to provide a system of conciliation as an alternative to the formal judicial system.

Implementation

Implementation of the Project will be carried out by the AID Office inColombia under the guidance of the US Ambassador. An interagency committee ofthe representatives of the various USG assistance programs to the Colombian justice sector organizations will be used to assure mutual reinforcement amongthose programs.

The GOC will appoint an Executive Committee for the Project which willconsist of representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the court system, the Public Ministry, Instruccion Criminal and/or the proposed Public Prosecutors' Office and the three police f3rces. The Executive Committee will operate under the direction of the President of the country or his delegate. Representatives

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of the AID Office in Colombia and of FES will be non-member attendees at themeetings of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will represent theGOC inmaking decisions concerning the composition of the Project's activities,and will vet all requests from the GOC to USG agencies for assistance to thejustice sector. Itwill be responsible for the submission to AID of the annualwork plans for carrying out the Project, and it will meet quarterly with therepresentatives of the AID Office in Colombia to review the progress being madeunder the Project and to address any problems which may arise. The Project willfinance a small staff to assist the Executive Committee in its work.

The main implementation agent for the Project will be FES. It isestimated that FES will be responsible for the use of approximately $17.7million. FES will be directly responsible for the implementation of theactivities and also will be the channel through which AID funds are provided tothe GOC and private organizations involved in the Project. Itwill do most ofthe procurement in Colombia of the goods and services financed by AID. Itwillassist the participating organizations to prepare their yearly work plans, andwill provide AID with quarterly reports concerning the conduct of the Projectand the use of AID funds. FES also will provide the GOC and AID with yearlyanalyses of the progress being made by the Project and the GOC's justice sector reform program which it supports.

AID directly will procure specialized equipment and services from abroad.During the life of the Project AID will transfer approximately $5.3 million tothe US Department of Justice's ICITAP program to provide training and technicalassistance to the investigation units of the criminal justice organizations.AID also will obtain the services of experienced US and third country prosecutorsand court administration and training specialists to work with the Project. Thethree external evaluations of the Project will be performed under direct contracts with AID.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Country Situation -- Political and Economic

Located in the northwest corner of South America, Colombia is the fourthlargest country on the continent. It is approximately the size of Texas, NewMexico and Arkansas combined. The city of Bogota, in the central highlands, isthe nation's capital. Other major cities are Medellin, Cali, Baranquilla andCartagena. The population of Colombia isapproximately 33 million; nearly one­quarter, or approximately seven million, live in Bogota. Spanish is thecountry's official language. The peso is the national currency. It currentlyis valued at about 600 pesos per U.S. dollar.

Economic

Agriculture and industry contribute roughly equal shares to Colombia's economy. The principal agricultural products are coffee, bananas, cut flowers,cotton and sugarcane. The principal industrial goods are textiles and garments,chemicals, metal products and cement. Colombia's key exports are coffee,petroleum, gold, bananas, cut flowers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and emeralds.

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Total export earnings for 1990 are estimated to have been $8.4 billion. Colombia is the second largest coffee producer in the world, and coffee constitutes thesingle most important item in Colombia's exports. While coffee's share of Colombia's total legal export earnings had dropped sharply in recent years due to the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement and the subsequent dropin price, coffee exporters were able to increase export volumes by 25 percentin 1990. In recent months, export revenues from petroleum have also increased substantially due to price hikes related to the Gulf War.

In 1972 Colombia's industrial development policy shifted from an emphasis on import substitution to export expansion and diversification. The economyexperienced an average real GDP growth rate of 6.1 percent between 1970 and1978. After a drop inthe growth rate to one percent in 1982, vigorous economic growth picked up again during the 1980s at a time when other South American countries were experiencing high inflation and negative growth rates. A slow­down occurred again in the late 1980s due to a combination of factors includinglower oil and coffee prices, violence, the deterioration of the investment climate, the high cost of fighting the drug war and a relatively inward-looking,protectionist trade regime. The slower growth and a corresponding decline intotal factor productivity provided a strong impetus for the government to implement a program of economic liberalization and restructuring inearly 1990.The principal objectives of the new policy are to maintain competitive exchangerates, liberalize imports, improve infrastructure for exports, eliminate pricecontrols, reform the tax structure, maintain positive real interest rates and improve the competitiveness of Colombia exports. Partly as a result of these new measures, economic growth rebounded to 3.5 percent in 1990.

Political

Colombia has a democratic form of government based on a Constitution that was drafted in 1886. The Constitution has been substantially amended on various occasions; and it is currently undergoing review and revision by a multi­partisan Constituent Assembly which will produce a new constitution by July 1991. Colombia has a tri-partite government: an executive, a judiciary and a bicamerallegislature. There are also autonomous organizations such as the Public Ministry. There traditionally have been two strong political parties, the Social Conservatives and the Liberals. Recently political participation has widenedwith the laying down of arms of the former guerrilla group M-19 and its reincarnation as a legitimate political party, and with the emergence of other smaller groups. President Cesar Gaviria Trujillo of the Liberal Party was elected inJune 1990 after a campaign in 4hich the most popular candidate, Luis Carlos Galan, was assassinated. While employing a somewhat different approach,President Gaviria has continued his predecessor's strong stance against narco­trafficking and narco-terrorism and in favor of conducting peace negotiationswith armed political groups.

Drug TraffickinQ

Colombia has been a major source of cocaine entering the U.S. market for more than fifteen years. Colombia, unlike Peru and Bolivia, has not had atradition of cultivating coca, but it did experience a rapid increase in cocacultivation in the 1980s. It isestimated that there are 42,500 hectares undercultivation, mostly in southeastern Colombia, slightly less than Bolivia (45,000

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hectares) and Peru (105,000 hectares). Colombia cocaine traffickers are believed to supply 75 percent of the cocaine hydrochloride consumed inthe United States.Most smuggling of cocaine has been by private aircraft through the Caribbean andthe Bahamas, where it isoff-loaded to other aircraft or airdropped to fast-boats offshore. However, the largest quantities seized have been in falsely labeled containerized cargo.

The GOC's counter-drug program includes interdiction, eradication,information and evidence sharing, cooperation with U.S. agencies and improvementin the prosecution of the narco-traffickers. The GOC employs both police andmilitary forces to interdict and disrupt narcotics production and trafficking,and the USG is providing assistance to enhance Colombian counter-drugintelligence and interdiction capabilities. The anti-narcotics efforts of theColombia National Police increased throughout the 1980s as U.S. assistanceincreased. Many different USG agencies assist Colombian Governmentthe incarrying out its anti-drug strategy. The assistance to the Colombian National Police and to the Armed Forces will increase substantially under the AndeanCounter-Drug Initiative. It will be used to help Colombia to: identify and capture trafficking ring leaders; destroy illegal crops such as andcocamarijuana; intercept the shipment of cocaine and precursor chemicals; locate anddestroy clandestine laboratories and airstrips; increase surveillance of air­and seaports; and accelerate efforts with the international community to trace and seize assets gained illegally.

B. Justice Sector

1. Institutions and Operations*

The following are the organizations operating in the Colombian Justice sector which are to be involved in the Project.

The Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is the organiza­tion which is to provide guidance to the operation of the justice sector. Ithas the only planning and research office in the sector, and is responsible forthe presentation to the Ministry of Finance of the budgets of the sector'sorganizations (except for the two police forces described below). In addition the MOJ has operational responsibility for the prison system, the Legal MedicineLaboratory with its several regional branches, the Public Defenders' Office andthe Judicial School. Until recently the MOJ provided administrative support tothe court system, but that responsibility is now being shifted to the Carrera Judicial (see below). Recently the MOJ has been given responsibility forfostering the use of conciliation as an alternative to the use of the courts for the resolution of certain types of disputes.

"Annex 1 provides a brief description of the major institutions of theColombian justice sector and of the operation of the criminal justice proceduresfollowed by that system. Fuller descriptions are available in Spanish in theProject's files. In this part we include only enough description to identifythe organizations and give the reader a sense of their purposes.

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--

The Court System. The Colombian court system consists of the usualhierarchical structure. At the top are three final appeals courts. They arethe Council of State which has 20 members and handles cases involving adminis­trative law, the Supreme Court which consists of 26 members and deals with allother cases and reviews all state of siege decrees to assure their conformitywith the Constitution, and the Disciplinary Court which investigates and tries members of the other two final appeals courts. The next level of courtsconsists of the 27 Superior District Courts which handle appeals from theSuperior Courts and the Circuit Courts and of the Public Order Superior DistrictCourt which handles appeals from the Special Jurisdiction of Public Order. The next level consists of the Superior Courts which are the trial courts forserious crimes which do not fall under the Special Jurisdiction of Public Orderand of the Circuit Courts which are trial courts for certain crimes againstproperty and which handle appeals from the Municipal Courts. At the lowestlevel are the Municipal Courts which handle minor disputes smalland valuecrimes against property.* Except for the members of the final appeals courts allthe judges are selected and supervised by the hierarchically immediatelysuperior court. Altogether there are some 21,035 persons assigned to the court system -546 magistrates, 4,100 judges and 16,389 support personnel. (For a further breakdown see Attachment 3 to Annex 1.)

Carrera Judicial. In 1987 the Consejo Superior de la Administracion deJusticia was created to oversee the operation of the court system. Inaddition to representatives from the court system, the Consejo has representatives ofother institutions with an interest in the operation of the court system -­including the MOJ dnd the Attorney General. The policies and decisions of theConsejo are to be carried out by Carrera Judicial which is the administrative arm of the court system. Carrera Judicial has a central support and policy­making office in Bogotd and regional offices in each of the 27 judicialdistricts. The original responsibility of Carrera Judicial was to administerthe personnel of the courts except for those judges assigned to Instrucci6n Criminal (see below). Over Lhe past few years additional responsibilities havebeen given to it for the overall administration of the court system and itshuman and material resources. Currently, the only major administrative responsibilities for the court system which are not under Carrera Judicial arethe obtaining and management of real property and the provision of trainingboth of which responsibilities remain with the Ministry of Justice but both ofwhich are proposed to be transferred to the court system as part of the reform of the operation of the justice sector.

Judicial School. The Judicial School operates under the Ministry ofJustice. It has responsibility for the training of judges and other personnelof the court system and of the representatives of the Public Ministry who workwith the court system. The Judicial School is located in Bogota, but it uses correspondence courses and the 27 sectional offices of Carrera Judicial to reachpersonnel throughout the country. The Judicial School gives mainly short, in­service-type courses. Its emphasis has been on keeping judges current as tochanges in the provisions of the law. Ituses contracted instructors for most of its work. (For more description, see Annex 4.)

*There are also several specialized courts concerning customs, juvenile and family affairs and agrarian law; but these are not part of the Project.

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Instruccion Criminal. Colombia follows the usual civil law system of placing responsibility in judges for investigating crimes. These judges are called jueces de instruccion to distinguish them from the judges who decide on the guilt or innocence who are called jueces de conocimiento. The juez de instruccion handles a case through the investigation phase, and makes a determination as to whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to be subject to deliberation and judgment by the juez de conocimiento. In Colombia the jueces de instruccion are appointed by the court system and depend on the court system for their career. The admiiistrative support for these judges,however, is provided by an organization called Instruccion Criminal. This organization also has responsibility for the operation of the Technical Corpsof the Judicial Police (see below). It operates under a director who is appointed and receives direction from the National Council on Criminal Instruction which consists of the Minister of Justice, the President of the Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court and the Attorney General. Instruccion Criminal is divided into two general divisions -- one handles cases which are to be decided by the Superior and Circuit Courts; and the other is the SpecialJurisdiction of Public Order which isdiscussed below. The Ordinary Jurisdiction has 769 judo'p and follows the traditional approach to criminal investigationsand to .,ngadministrative support to the judges.

ipecial Jurisdiction of Public Order. In January 1991 the SpecialJurisdiction of Public Order was created within Instruccion Criminal. This Special Jurisdiction consists of five regional offices and a central office which provides direction and support. Itwas created under state of siege decree powers, but its constitutionality has been upheld by the Supreme Court. The Special Jurisdiction has 82 judges. Ithas responsibility for the investigationof cases involving major drug trafficking, terrorism and related crimes. The Special Jurisdiction issubstantially different ini's organization and operationfrom the Ordinary Jurisdiction. For instance: (i)evidence collkcted by the police forces is admissible although a judge did not participFte in its gathering; (ii)an accused can be held incommunicado for five days, and may be denied access to the investigation file until the case has been passed to the juez de conocimiento; (iii) the judges operate anonymously with only the director of each regional office knowing which judge is handling which case and with all communications between the judge and others (e.g., police, witnesses, the accused) being conducted through that director or through the use of one-wayglass and voice distorters; (iv)heightened security measures taken toare protect the persons of the judges involved and of the physical sites of the offices; and (v)administrative support isprovided to the judges from a common office rather than having each judge rely on a personal staff.

The Judicial Police. The Judicial Police consists of those police forces which have the responsibility for investigating crimes under the direction of the jueces de instruccion. There are three major polize forces which have this function. The Technical Corps of the Judicial Police, which is under the direction of Instruccion Criminal, has 1,000 investigators and technicians all of whom perform the function of the Judicial Police. The National Police, with some 80,000 members and national coverage, has approximately 5,000 agentsassigned to the duties of the judicial police. Of that number some 3,000 agents are to be available to work on the cases of the Special Jurisdiction. The National Police reports to the Minister of Defense, and isorganized on military

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are to be available to work on the cases of the Special Jurisdiction. TheNational Police reports to the Minister of Defense, and isorganized on militarylines. The Administrative Department of Security (DAS), which reports to theOffice of the President, has approximately 8,000 members of which 108 are to be available to work with the Special Jurisdiction.

Police Inspectors. The Police Inspectors are persons appointed by, and responsible to, the mayors. There are approximately 5,000 in Colombia. Theyneed not be trained lawyers. Their jurisdiction includes the mediation of minordisputes and the investigation and judgment of misdemeanors. Police Inspectorscan impose prison sentences of up to two years. There is no appeal from theirdecisions to the formal court system. As part of the reforms being undertaken in the justice sector, the jurisdiction of the Police Inspectors is beingexpanded inorder to help relieve the congestion of the formal court system.

The Public Ministry. The Public Ministry (the Procuraduria General de laNacion) isan autonomous organization. It isheaded by the Attorney General whois chosen for a four-year term by the House of Representatives from a list ofthree nominees proposed by the President. The responsibilities of the Public Ministry are to assure that public officials perform their duties according tothe law and with due diligence, to see that public officials and agents(including the police and the military) observe the human rights which areguaranteed to the people; and to investigate any alleged crimes or infractionscommitted by those public officials and personnel. To exercise these respon­sibilities the Public Ministry has representatives in all public organizations.Inthe courts those representatives (called Fiscales) follow the conduct of the cases by the judges and give rulings as to whether the law and procedures arebeing followed by the judges and the other personnel. The representatives canconclude that a judge's decision isincorrect, and can lodge an appeal on behalf of the Public Ministry. An investigation by the Public Ministry of an allegedcrime or infraction by a public employee or official can result in the referral of the case to the criminal justice system or to the imposition by the PublicMinistry of an administrative sanction on the person who was inivestigated.

2. MaJor Problems Faced by the Colombian Justice System

There is a general consensus in Colombian that the judicial system is incrisis and requires reform. This crisis has become acute inthe last five yearsdue to the increase in the power of the criminal organizations and the level ofviolence. The Colombian President and other government officials have clearlyacknowledged the problems facing the Justice System and the importance offortifying and improving it. The following isa brief description of the mainproblems that confront the Colombian justice system. The selection of theproblems is based on a working document issued by the National PlanningDepartment (Dep, -tamento de Planeacion Naciona1), interviews with the Minister of Justice and the results of a seminar organized by FES inMarch 1991 at whichthe representatives of the organizations operating in the system analyzed the problems facing their institutions.

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a. Operative and Administrative Problems in the Justice System

Lack of Administrative and Operational Independence of the Court System.The court system's administrative structure is weak and continues to be subordinated and to dependent on the executive branch. Although inrecent years some steps have been taken in order to provide the judicial branch moreadministrative independence, both the GOC and the judiciary agree that those efforts have not been sufficient. For example, the MOJ continues to have partial control over the judicial branch's budget; the planning function for the judicial branch isdone by the Planning Office of the MOJ; the Judicial School and Legal Medicine are dependencies of the MOJ; and the building and repairingof courts are the responsibility of the Fondo Rotatorio, which is also a dependency of the MOJ.

Lack of Coordination in Systematizing of the System. In the last few years, a number of activities were developed by different entities (both privateand public) inan effort to computerize the administration and functions of the courts and other entities participating inthe administration of justice. Theseprojects were independent efforts. They developed software and purchasedhardware which are non-compatible in many instances. There has been no nationwide strategy controlling the development of these activities.

Lack of Coordination and Cooperation Among Organizations. The issue that received the most attention at the March 1991 seminar was the need for coordination and improved cooperation among all the institutions participatingin the justice system. This lack of coordination and cooperation is a major reason for the inefficiency of criminal investigations. The problem is exacerbated by the scarcity of resources, training and efficient administrative mechanisms.

Lack of Training in Modern Techniques. The average level of preparationof persons who enter the judiciary and the police forces is below the level needed for the proper performance of their duties. Furthermore, the level of training given to Colombian judges, police agents and other personnel of the justice sector is low. The impact of this situation is particularly negative on the investigation of crimes. It also impedes the adoption of modern administrative measures by the several organizations operating in the sector.

b. Congestion of the Judicial System

The Colombian Justice system currently is facing a crisis due to the largenumber of cases entering the court system and the system's inability to handle them efficiently. In the civil justice courts between 1984 and 1988,approximately 1,654,992 cases were being processed of which only twenty percent were resolved. This means that eighty percent continued in the courts unresolved. In the criminal courts the problem is even more serious Between 1984 and 1989 only 17.2 percent of the cases that originally entered the system were in fact decided. The effect of this low resolution rate on people'sperceptions of the effectiveness of the criminal investigation helps explain whyit is estimated that only twenty percent of all crimes committed are reported.It also helps explain why there is a serious problem of overpopulated jails.The women's jail is at 123 percent of its normal capacity. Some of the important men's jails are at 225 percent to 241 percent of their capacity. From

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1985 through 1989, 59 percent of those who were detained were being investigated

rather than serving a sentence.

c. HiQh Index of Violence

One of the main characteristics of Colombian society is the extent of theserious violence itmust face. The Colombian justice system must confront prob­lems that would be a challenge for any justice system in the world. Theyinclude sophisticated drug trafficking organizations, revolutionary movements from the extreme left, sophisticated criminal organizations and right-wingparamilitary groups. Homicide statistics reflect a frightening panorama. A reliable study concluded that between 1984 and 1989, approximately 31,000 deaths were due to violence connected with the drug trafficking trade. In 1989 alone there were 23,315 homicide victims. During the first forty days of 1991, 328 persons were killed in clashes between the armed forces and the guerrilla groups.

Unfortunately the trend seems to be worsening. The kidnapping index went from sixty kidnappings a month in 1989 to 158 kidnappings a month inJanuary of 1990. According to statistics from the National Police, in 1989 there were 68.1 homicide victims for 100,000 inhabitants. The figures for prior years were 38.2 (1985), 44.2 (1986), 52.8 (1987), and 62.8 (1988). Colombia has the highesthomicide rate in the world. This high level of violence has spawned manyproblems. Among them are the following.

Lack of Protection for Justice Sector Personnel and Participants. The sophistication of the Colombian criminal organizations is reflected in their ability to kidnap and murder even highly protected victims and to destroyinstitutions through intimidation and corruption. An Attorney General was kidnapped and murdered; three Presidential candidates were murdered during last year's presidential election; and many members of the Patriotic Union (- left­wing political party) have been murdered since 1986. Although the improvementof judicial protection has been a strong priority of the GOC, participants in the justice sector continue to be threatened, kidnapped and murdered. A surveyshows that 25 percent of the judges reported that either they or their families have been threatened because of their positions as judges. According to the National Planning Department, in 1980 approximately 44 persons who were litigating lawyers or personnel of the court system were murdered. Another report states that the number of judicial personnel murdered since 1980 is approximately 350 (including 50 judges).

Lack of Attention to Ordinary Crimes and Disputes. Most of the attention and resources of the sector have been focused on the problems of drugtrafficking and terrorism. Little emphasis has been placed on the ordinarycriminal jurisdiction or on the civil jurisdiction. If mechanisms are not created so that communities can resolvw their problems effectively and peacefully, people will seek other forms of resolving their problems including violence.

d. Lack of Effective Prosecution

Colombia does not have a prosecutorial function -- even to the extent adopted by most other civil law jurisdictions. Thus neither the instructional

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judges nor the investigative police have the benefit of trained, professionalprosecutors. The lack of prosecutors also makes it less likely that Colombia will introduce those aspects of the accusatory system which many other civil law systems have found to be advantageous.

e. Transitory Rules

Because of the exigencies faced by the Colombian justice sector, many of the laws that currently govern the criminal justice process are the result of decrees issued under the state of siege power. One problem is that the frequency with which the President has issued these transitory decrees has created confusion inthe courts -- the judges and practitioners do not know what law is applicable. Another problem with transitory decrees is that there are no long-term policies in place to fortify and improve the criminal system.Fundamental change has been postponed.

C. Past and Current USG Assistance to the Justice Sector

1. AID-FES Grant

USG assistance to the Colombian justice sector began in September 1986 with the AID Grant to FES of $290,000 for a program developed in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court. The Grant had three com­ponents -- expansion of ongoing pilot projects in the automation of court functions; donation of research materials to the libraries of the Supreme Court,the Council of State and the new Judicial School, and studies on the justicesystem. To assure that the activities reflected the interest of the publicentities and the analytical skills of the private sector, FES created an Advisory Committee to work with it in the development of specific activities. The Committee initially consisted of representatives of the Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Ministry of Justice, AID, and of two individuals associated with the Instituto SER, a think tank on judicial reform issues which had developed the pilot court projects with the Ministry of Justice.

Inkeeping with the budgetary levels then available for Colombia, the AID Grant focused on assisting government initiatives, such as the Judicial School, get off the ground and on developing pilot activities with the idea that, once proven effective, they would be adopted and implemented by appropriate official entities. The three initial areas of activity gradually branched into a complex array of initiatives involving private sector sponsors and other agencies inthe government. New funds were added in September 1987 ($184,000), July 1988 ($600,000), September 1989 ($500,000) and August 1990 ($1,100,000). The increasing rate of utilization of funds reflected the expanding demand for assistance and the m omentum for judicial reform. The Grant iscredited within knowledgeable circles in Colombia with providing the forum and focus without which the current broad consensus on judicial reform would not exist.

The AID Grant has supported, among other things: strategic planning for the justice sector, a judicial statistics pilot project, organization of a judicial personnel office which will become the core of a new independentJudicial Administration Institute, workshops on community legal education and new court technology, the introduction of computer technology to different kinds

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of courts, analyses of courts and related offices in the Executive Branch,updating of the periodical collections of the Supreme Court and the Council ofState, distribution of 40,500 copies of legal codes and other basic information to judges, and the holding of annual judicial conferences. Since the newColombian iovernment took office in August 1990, the AID/FES project has supported planning for the reorganization of the public order courts and other aspects of the judicial reform plan while continuing its work with individual courts and other ongoing activities.

2. Protection of Judges

The other important element inthe USG's support for the Colombian justicesystem was the appropriation of $5 million in FY 1989 for the protection of judges and others subject to narco-terrorist attack. The $500,000 that FESreceived in 1989 was part of that earmark; it enabled the project to begin tolook at the needs of the judicial police ingeneral and specifically at the newTechnical Corps within the Department of Criminal Instruction. The judicialprotection earmark also enabled the International Criminal InvestigativeTraining Assistance Program (ICITAP) of the U.S. Department of Justice to initiate a significant program in Colombia. While ICITAP had previously givena few courses at the Judicial School, there had not been enough funds to offer assistance at a level which would enable ICITAP to address the institutional needs in the investigative area. Consequently, ICITAP proposed a $2,000,000judicial protection program that focused on the creation of a threat assessment/investigation capacity within one of the three judicial policeforces, while offering other training such as personal security awareness and techniques of protection.

Shortly after the ICITAP program was approved, Liberal Party presidentialcandidate Luis Carlos Galan was assassinated. This event resulted in approvalof $65 million in assistance to Colombia by the Department of Defense (DOD) and a reassessment of priorities for assistance to the justice sector. Equipmentneeds were surveyed, and an effort made to satisfy these needs from DOD stocks. As relatively few of the needs could be met by the DOD, most of the $2.5 million remaining inthe judicial protection funds was allocated to equipment purchases(principally bulletproof vests, armored vehicles and communications equipment).An additional $500,000 in FY 1989 ESF was provided to the Colombia Ministry of Justice to procure courtroom security equipment. Finally, ICITAP's activities were reoriented to address physical security; and $140,000 was provided to the State Department's Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program (ATA) for additional protection courses. In 1990, $250,000 was transferred from ICITAP to ATA to increase the latter's activities in Colombia.

3. Evidence Sharing

Since early 1991 the Department of Justice has been working with the GOC to create a system by which the USG and the GOC could share evidence concerningdrug trafficking and related "money laundering". A representative of the US Department of Justice has been assigned to the Embassy to work on this effort. The temporary agreement under which current activities are being conducted runs through the middle of 1991. Depending on the progress made, that agreement maybe extended or replaced by a more permanent one.

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D. Other Donor Assistance

Other bilateral and multilateral donors have been providing, and willcontinue to provide, assistance to Colombia to improve the administration of justice. The main beneficiaries have been DAS and Instruccidn Criminal which were provided computer and communications equipment with some support also beingprovided to the Office of Legal Medicine in the MOUJ. Much of the bilateral assistance has been focused specifically on strengthening the GOC's counter­terrorist capability. Other assistance, both bilateral and multilateral, hasbeen provided to improve the training of judges and the administration of the courts. Further bilateral and multilateral assistance for the justice sector will be channeled through the GOC's Special Cooperation Program, which was established inNovember 1989 to counterbalance the economic damage caused to the country by the drug trade. As of November 1990 the Special Cooperation programhad received pledges from international donors of approximately $315 million (ofwhich $200 million was pledged from the United States and $75 million from the European Economic Community). Of this total, $81.6 million has been programmedfor the improvement of the administration of justice. At the initiative of the U.S. Embassy, the international donors will meet on a regular basis (the first meeting was held inMarch 1991) to share information on the types of assistance programs planned for Colombia and to avoid a duplication of effort.

III. PROJECT STRATEGY

A. Strategy of the Government of Colombia for the Justice Sector

During the last presidential campaign and on taking office inAugust 1990 President Gaviria announced that improving the performance of the justice systemwas one of his main priorities. Several of the President's key advisors,including the present Minister of Justice and the Attorney General, are personswho had been associated with the analytical and other work concerning the prob­lems facing the justice sector which had been assisted by the current AID grantto FES. They agree that the major objectives to be sought in the justice sector are that:

The organization of the sector should be modified so that the MOJ performs a planning and guidance role while dependenciesserving the court system are transferred to that system;

The independence of the court system should be strengthened byproviding it with the capacity to manage its own personnel, financial and material resources;

The investigation and prosecution of serious crimes must be improved through better training and coordination of the policeforces and the judiciary, the introduction of an independent,prosecutorial function and the use of special jurisdictions and procedures to counteract the sophisticated techniques and intimidation used by organized crime;

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In order to relieve the congestion of the court system arisingfrom its workload, responsibility for minor crimes should be transferred to administrative officials and many civil disputesshould be subject to private conciliation procedures before being dealt with by the formal court system;

The prison system should be modified to give greater emphasis to rehabilitation and alternatives to incarceration; and

The support of the population for the observance of human rightsand due process should be increased through community legal education.

The objectives are reflected in both the proposals which the GOC has presented to the Constituent Assembly and inthe draft national development planwhich is under discussion at present. They were the subject of a discussion bythe leaders of all the sector organizations which was convened by the Ministryof Justice during the preparation of the Project Paper. Furthermore, the GOC has taken steps to implement these objectives. It is implementing a SpecialJurisdiction to deal with the challenge to the work of the court system byorganized crime and terrorist organizations; it has formed a task force to prepare for the creation of a Public Prosecutors' Office; and it has passed a law creating the basis for dispute resolution mechanisms alternative to the formal court system.

There is still much work to be done to elaborate the GOC's strategy for the justice sector. Targets and measures of progress on them have not yet been identified. The nature and sequencing of particular activities and programsremains to be worked out. The resource implications have not been calculated. Furthermore, there is not agreement on all important aspects and issues. Manypeople criticize the Special Jurisdiction and its implementation to date; and the Constituent Assembly, which currently is in session, may make it impossibleto continue some of the important aspects of that approach. There is little understanding on what will be involved in adopting the prosecutorial function. The difficulties of achieving coordination (much less consolidation) of the investigation by the various police forces are very great. Most analytical and preparatory work to date has been done by private sector entities while the major challenges are now to take action by public sector entities. Indeed, itis likely that the process of creating a fully elaborated strategy and plan for the justice sector will take several years.

Despite the difficulties facing the elaboration of a sector strategy and plan, there is a good basis for going forward now with a Project in support of a government program for the justice sector. That basis is the existence of the wide consensus on the general objectives for the sector and the positiveattitude of the key officials toward taking action on those objectives and to working on the fuller elaboration of a sector strategy and plan. The importanceof the reforms being discussed is clear as is the need for a commitment to a multi-year effort by both the GOC and any organization purporting to help it in a comprehensive way.

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B. USG Strategy for the Justice Sector

In furtherance of the goals of President Bush's Counter-Drug Initiativefor the Andean Region, National Security Directive 18 (NSD-18) proposed economicassistance to Colombia in fiscal years 1991 through 1993. NSD-18 stipulatesthat to qualify for this assistance the recipient countries must be institutingrational economic policies and demonstrating commitment to the counter-drugeffort. In February 1990 President Bush and the then President of Colombia metinCartagena, Colombia. They discussed the broad outlines of the GOC's plan to suppress narcotics trafficking and to stimulate legitimate economic activity.President Bush applauded the Colombian program and pledged U.S. support.Subsequently, U.S. $50.0 million in ESF for Colombia was included in AID'sFY 1991 budget request as the principal means by which the United States would support the Colombian effort. The U.S. $50.0 million is being provided as aU.S. $41.0 million ESF cash transfer and U.S. $9.0 million in projectassistance. In addition to funds for this Project, the assistance to projectsin FY 1991 will consist of $1 million for a Drug Awareness and Prevention activity, $2 million for training and technical assistance, and $500,000 for support to other, as yet undesignated, activities.

For purposes of this Project, the Colombian sector program is the USG's strategy for the justice sector. For several years the USG has been urging the GOC to develop a comprehensive justice reform plan which would be implementedover a period of years. Now that the Colombians have adopted the basic elementsof such a plan, the USG strategy is to assist the GOC refine what it has;implement it; and institutionalize the planning process. While USG participation inthe implementation of the plan through this Project will placeit in a position to make suggestions along the way, the objective is always to support the Colombians in a judicial reform process that is their own.

In the view of the United States Government judicial reform is critical to enable Colombia to claim its true democratic destiny. By all accounts thejustice system has failed to enforce the rule of law. Colombians have concluded that it cannot fulfill its functions without fundamental change. The changesrecommended conform to basic U.S. and more generally Western notions of justice,including the separation of powers and broad public access. Thus, the United States readily endorses the policy decisions that the Colombian Government has made. Removing the judiciary from the administrative control of the MOJ andcreating a public prosecutor with capability for difficult criminal investiga­tions are practical steps that should not only enhance the functioning of the justice system but also create a more effective partnership between theexecutive and judicial branches. Training for all participants in the judicial proces -- judges, clerks, prosecutors, police -- is a basic necessity in allcountries. Requiring mediation before certain kinds of cases go before a judgewill place Colombia in the vanguard with some U.S. jurisdictions intent on reducing case backlogs.

The United States also supports the comprehensiveness of the Colombian plan. From the outset of the administration of justice program, the Departmentof State and AID have urged governments and individuals throughout the regionto think about the diverse demands that democracy places on the justice systemand to design practical ways of closing the gaps that exist. Judicial reformis a continuous process that must be built into social and governmental

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--institutions to have long-term impact. Many people -- universities, bar associations, think-tanks, active and retired judges and government officials can contribute to the strengthening of a justice system in different ways at the same time. The Colombian plan and this Project recognize the need for that broad participation.

The plan, moreover, gives priority wherever possible to removing obstacles to the prosecution of major narcotics traffickers. The failure to prosecutedrug traffickers in Colombia is the most notorious example of a generalizedfailure to bring criminals to justice. Reassertion of the rule of law in these cases requires treatment of systemic faults. Within the broader reforms that are being implemented, the public order courts will be the first to receive assistance in a variety of areas -- e.g., physical protection, information management and investigative training and support. The experience inthe publicorder courts will be taken into consideration in the replication of such activities elsewhere. Drug prosecutions cannot be made more effective apartfrom the overall criminal justice system. The Colombian plan provides both the context and specific reforms that together can reasonably be expected to placedrug prosecutions on firm ground.

The broad objectives of the administration of justice program and the more narrow ones of NSD-18 thus converge. To have an effective counter-drugcapability in Colombia, the Colombian justice system must develop the institutional capacity to confront criminals. To impart justice indrug cases,judges must be able to draw on the support of those institutions. Until recently Colombian judges have been left largely to their own devices to enforce the law. The GOC has now offered a plan to change this. It recognizes that justice demands a system and aims to restructure existing resources and developthem into an effective system for Colombia. The plan has been developed under exigent circumstances but has an intellectual coherence that reflects the serious study that its principal architects have given the justice system over many years. While successful implementation will depend upon myriad details to be worked out along the way, itdeserves the support of everyone interested in restoration of the rule of law in Colombia.

C. Relationship of the Project to Past and Current USG Strategy and Assistance and to the GOC's Strategy

The Project will build on the analytical work and experience of the pilotactivities which were supported under the current AID Grant to FES. However,its strategy is substantially different from that of the current Grant. Its approach will be to encourage and assist in the design and implementation of programs by the several public sector organizations of the justice sector in order to achieve system-wide changes as a result of the Project rather than to limit itself to supporting analytical work and pilot activities which may be used in future government programs. The locus of decisions concerning the design and implementation of the Project will be the GOC rather than FES and its Advisory Board. The basic agreement governing the Project will be one between AID and the GOC rather than a grant to a private entity. Undertakings will be sought from the government entities concerning actions to be taken and financial support to be provided. Targets of accomplishment and of impact of the Projectwill be agreed to and measured. This change in approach does not reflect

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dissatisfaction with the results of the current Grant but rather the

opportunities and requirements of the current situation.

Relation to GOC Strategy

All the components of the Project address priority objectives of the GOC.Thus there should be no reluctance on the part of the participating Colombian entities to support the Project. However, in the design of the Project three decisions related to support of the GOC's strategy were taken which involve some controversy. The first decision was to go forward with the Project's design andauthorization before the conclusion inJuly 1991 of the Constituent Assembly and before the GOC takes the decisions which will be needed to carry out the results of the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly. The design of the Project assumes that the general outline of the proposals of the GOC to the Constituent Assembly concerning the justice sector will be adopted, and that any deviations from those proposals will not be incompatible with achieving the basic purposesof the Project. It was decided to go forward with the Project at this timebecause of the urgency of continuing and accelerating the improvement of the investigation and prosecution of major crimes although the measures to do so are the very ones which are subject to the most controversy in the ConstituentAssembly; because the attitude of the persons occupying key positions in thejustice sector at present isvery positive toward reform; and because they want to move forward rapidly. If unexpected actions are taken by the Constituent Assembly, adjustments to the design of the Project may be necessary.

The second decision was the degree of focus to be given to the Project.The GOC's objectives and its outline for a justice sector program are sweepingand ambitious. They reflect the serious problems which afflict all aspects of the sector. There ismuch to be said for seeking to undertake as comprehensive a reform program as possible since the problems and sector institutions are verymuch intertwined; since achieving the purpose of the Project requires a comprehensive program; and since by being involved inmany of its aspects theProject more easily could respond to shifts in priorities within the GOC's sector program which probably will be necessary as circumstances change duringthe four-year life of the Project.

However, the Project cannot address all the problems facing the sector,and it cannot be responsive to all the requests for assistance being made in connection with improvements in the sector. There are neither sufficient funds nor the administrative and operational capability to do so. Thus, the Projectgives priority to those activities which build on past efforts or specialexpertise from the U.S. and are focused on the two core concerns of improvingthe independence and of courts and andoperation the the investigationprosecution of serious crimes. In applying that approach the design of the Project did not include activities aimed at the following important objectives:(i)the reform of the preparation of lawyers (including potential judges andprosecutors) by Colombian law schools; (ii)the reform of the operation of the prison system (including alternatives to pre-trial detention); (iii) theimprovement of the performance of the Police Inspectors who will be givenexpanded jurisdiction over minor crimes; (iv)the strengthening of the Public Ministry's overall operations and its responsibility for oversight of the properand efficient performance of all public sector personnel; and (v)themodifications of the codes and procedures governing civil courts (except

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indirectly through work with the overall operation of the court system and thedecongestion effect of the work on conciliation). However, unless these objectives are addressed effectively by the GOC, acting alone or with theassistance of other donors, later in its life the Project may have to reconsider their exclusion from its scope.

The third decision was to plan 'or a level of support for the sector program which would be necessary to achieve its objectives rather than be bound by the original estimated level of $25 million of AID resources. This decision responded to the importance of the sector program both to the GOC's prioritiesand to the USG's strategy in Colombia and to the recognition that in the near term at least the USG will remain the most important external source of supportfor the Colombian justice sector. Should it not be possible for AID to providethe requested level of resources itwill be necessary to revise the scope of the Project. The most likely outcome of such a revision would be to cut back on support for the consolidation and replication of the reforms throughout the justice system in the last two years of the Project's life. This would include not fully extending the systemization of the court system, not supporting the adoption throughout the country of the experience of the police task forces, not completing a sector training system, cutting back the number of courses to be provided to the police and the judicial personnel, not supporting the progressof the proposed Public Prosecutors' Office from its simple establishment to sophisticated operations, and not expanding assistance to the Public Ministry as progress by that organization may warrant. It also would be likely to prevent the Project's undertaking several activities which are important, but not crucial, to its core objectives --e.g., work with the conciliation system,work on public education concerning the legal system and human rights; efforts to improve the public relations of the justice system; strengthening of the systems for providing defense counsel and supporting victims and witnesses,testing and supporting ways to improve the morale and dedication of the judges;and assuring that the personnel of the justice system have readily available the legal and operational information for ofrequired the efficient performancetheir responsibilities.

Relation to the USG Strategy

The Project will provide support to the U.S. Government's strategy for the overall justice sector. That strategy recognizes that the use of extradition of drug traffickers from Colombia to the U.S. for trial will decrease in the future, and that those traffickers will have to be investigated and tried inColombia. The strategy also recognizes that the prospects for public supportfor the continuing strengthening of the democratic process inColombia will bedependent to an important extent on the public's conclusion that its safety and its freedom from crime are being adequately addressed by the criminal justicesystem. Both of those aspects of the USG strategy require that the Colombian justice system perform better. The Project directly addresses several majorproblems which impede the performance of that system.

The ways in which the Project will utilize and support past and current USG assistance to the justice sector are several:

The procedures and understandings worked out with FES for the disbursement and accounting for the use of AID funds will be

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used in this Project. and FES will continue to be the locus of decisions concerning the analytical work and pilot activities with private sector organizations;

ICITAP will be used to provide training to the various policeinvestigation forces, and will participate in several of the other analytical and technical assistance activities to be supported;

The equipment provided by NAS will be incorporated into the scope of the program being supported by the Project, and NAS will be used for acquiring additional equipment with Projectfunds;

The efforts of NEA concerning "laundering" of drug money will be enhanced by the Project's work in support of improving the capability of Colombian organizations to investigate financial crimes.

Judicial Protection

Because of its importance, special mention should be made of the work of the Project to improve the protection of the personnel of the justice systemfrom intimidation. Since 1989 the USG has supported activities to help protectjudges from violence and threats of violence (see Part II.C above). NAS has procured and distributed security and communications equipment (including 30 armored cars); and ICITAP has provided training for personnel in personalsecurity techniques. Furthermore,'the current Grant to FES has provided funds to assist the MOJ to prepare the plans and operational procedures for the central and five regional offices of the Special Jurisdiction for Public Order, one of whose main objectives isto protect judges from intimidation by terrorist organizations and organized crime (and especially by narcotics trafficking organizations).

NAS has $900,000 of FY 1991 funds available for procurement of additional security equipment, and has included $320,000 for that purpose in its budgetplanning for FY 1992. ICITAP has $400,000 available for training in FY 1991. That equipment will be procured and distributed and the training provided in furtherance of the work plans to be prepared under the Project. Furthermore, the Project will:

Finance the training by ICITAP of additional personnel in security techniques;

Help create a capability in the MOJ, working with DAS to plan for the security of the sector's personnel, and to assess and respond to threats to that personnel, thereby permitting the best use of the equipment and security protection personnel available;

Help create an organized crime information gathering capabilitywhose work will be available to the MOJ's threat assessment and planning unit;

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Provide funds to supplement those funds available from NAS for the procurement of additional security equipment if that proves necessary; and

Continue to support improvements inthe operation of the Special Jurisdiction.

Then too, in an indirect, but still real, way the overall work of theProject in improving the investigation and prosecution of crime (including the support for a new Public Prosecutors' Office) and in improving the performanceof the court system will contribute to the protection of the judicial personnel as the power of organized crime is diminished and the public's respect for judges is recovered.

IV. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A. Goal, Purposes and Results

Goal

The goal of the Project is to strengthen civilian government institutions so that they will merit the confidence of political and military leaders, thegeneral population and investors. The Project is important to achieving the goal because of the importance of the justice sector institutions and the gravity of the situation facing the Colombian justice sector. However,.iccomplishing the goal will require the successful implementation of efforts apart from this Project. Thus measuring progress toward the goal will be conducted as part of measuring the impact of the full AID-supported program in Colombia, not of this Project alone.

Purpose and Impact

The purpose of the Project isto increase the effectiveness and fairnessof the Colombian justice system. That system consists of a variety of organizations: the courts (of penal, civil and specialized jurisdictions), theseveral police forces, the Office of the Attorney General, the Ministry ofJustice (with its dependencies of the prison system and the Judicial School),the various law faculties and the professional organizations. Given the USG's strategy described in part III above and the desirability of building on the work which has taken place already under the current AID Grant to FES, theProject will pay particular attention to the criminal justice aspects of the justice system. However, it also will address the needs of the administration of, and interconnections among, the sector's organizations since the failure to meet those needs will have a negative impact on the performance of the criminal justice process; and it will support steps to improve the performance of the

effectiveness and fairness of the Colombia

courts through the transfer of responsibility for minor matters to other organizations for resolution.

Although it is not reasonable to expect that the problems facing the justice system -- or even the

criminal justice part of it -- will be resolved by the end of the four-year life

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of the Project, measurable progress on the purpose should take place. The categories of impact to be measured will be:

- The number of convictions achieved related to acts of organized crime;

- The rate of acceptance of the results of criminal investigations by the courts for judgment;

- The percent of criminal 'dses which are taken to judgment, and the average time it takes between the opening of the investigation and the passing of sentence;

The number of cases which are pending resolution by the court system ingeneral and the penal courts in particular;

The percentage of criminal defendants who are represented bydefense counsel;

The number of criminal and disciplinary actions which are brought against justice sector personnel for the violation of human rights and illicit indictment; and

The opinion of the population (obtained through sampling) of the effectiveness and fairness of the justice system.

Early in the life of the Project FES will assist the MOJ in adopting thequantified targets to be used ineach of these categories and inorganizing the collection of the baseline data against which those targets will be measured.

Approach and Results

The approach of the Project is:

To achieve mutually supportive programs by the criminal justicesector's organizations through coordinated research, planning and operations;

To improve the effectiveness and fairness of the investigation and prosecution of serious crimes through the use of better trained and organized investigators and the creation of a prosecutorial function;

To strengthen the operations and the independence of the court system through better training of its personnel, the use of modern management techniques and the provision of more effective support.

The major results of the Project's work will be the following:

A multiyear justice sector plan will exist and be used by the various sector organizations to guide their operations, and a system will be in place for the periodic updating of that plan;

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A system will exist for conducting coordinated research on the problems facing the sector and the operation of its organizations;

A system will be in place for assessing the performance of the sector's organizations and their personnel;

A system will exist for coordinating the training programsrelevant to the personnel of the various sector organizations(including the police forces);

The Special Jurisdiction will be in full or~'ration and able to protect its personnel from intimidation by organization crime;

A system will be in place for assessing threats against the integrity of the justice system and its personnel and for reacting to those threats;

A Public Prosecutors' Office will have been created and staffed and be functioning satisfactorily;

The several police investigatory forces will perform their work in a coordinated way and be responsive to the guidance of the courts and the Public Prosecutors' Office;

The Public Ministry -- incooperation with the sector's organi­zations -- will have the capacity to investigate infractions and crimes (including sophisticated financial crimes, illicit indictment and abuses of human rights) by the personnel of the justice sector's organizations (including the police);

The court system will be fully in charge of its financial, material and human resources;

There will be in use a fully elaborated merit system for the selection, evaluation and promotion of the personnel of the court system and appropriate levels of copensation for the personnel;

The administrative offices of the court system will be utilizing computer technology wherever such technology is appropriate;

The judges and magistrates will have been supplied with access to such legal materials as is necessary for them to meet their responsibilities; and

A system of conciliation centers will be in place and their personnel trained to provide methods of dispute resolution alternative to that of the formal court system.

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B. Components of the Project

The following are descriptions of the components of the Project. Theypresent the objectives and the expected end-of-Project Status for each component, the major outputs and the expectations concerning actions to be taken by the GOC. The descriptions indicate the types of inputs to be provided.Details concerning those inputs are given inAnnex 8.

Although the Project's design consciously has excluded several objectivesand activities important to the accomplishment of the GOC's program for thejustice sector, the program being supported by the Project still is comprehensive and ambitious; and it includes a large number of interrelated activities. Its accomplishment will require intense work by both theparticipating Colombian entities and by the AID Office. However, there are five aspects of the Project's design which will contribute to making the Projectmanageable. The first aspect is that the Project is based heavily on acomprehensive proposal prepared by FES working with several offices of the justice sector. Thus, a considerable amount of implementation planning has been accomplished. The second aspect is that much of the work of the Project willbe performed through contracts arranged by FES or by ICITAP. The third aspectis that many of the Project's activities during the first 18 months are concerned with design work and pilot activities rather than with system-wideimplementation of activities. The fourth aspect is the time-phasing of the activities. The first 18 months of the Project will give priority to the preparation of the design of the plans for carrying out the revised responsibilities for various sector thethe justice entities, further strengthening of the Special Jurisdiction and the preparation and implementationof the new Public Prosecutors' Office. Thereafter the Project will focus on thesystem-wide implementation of the experience with the pilot activities and of the design and preparatory work conducted during the early phase re the various sector institutions; and it will undertake work concerning the role of defense counsel, a program to support victims and witnesses, an effort to improve publicperception of the operation of the sector, and achievingjustice greatercoordination of the various training activities. Activities in support of theimproved operation of the court system and of improving the capacity of thepolice forces to investigate crimes will be conducted throughout the life of the Project. The fifth aspect is the use of yearly work plans to adjust the designof the Project and the timing and mix of its activities to take account ofchanging local conditions, the progress made on the activities undertaken to date and the resources available.

1. Improved Organization of the Justice Sector and Improved Plannin, Monitoring and Coordination of the Operations of Justice Sector's Institutions

a. Obiectives and End of Proiect Status

The Constituent Assembly is considering various proposals for areorganization of the justice sector and its institutions. Inits presentationsto the Constituent Assembly and in the draft national plan under preparation,the GOC has expressed several goals to be pursued. They are that: the MOJ become the instrument for the coordination of the planning and operations of the sector's institutions; the court system become responsible for its own

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administration and the utilization of its human and material resources; theinvestigation and prosecution of crime be improved through the creation of a Public Prosecutors' Office and the coordination of the various investigatorypolice forces; and the workload of the court system be reduced through the transfer of responsibility for trying minor crimes to administrative officials and for resolving many civil and family disputes to systems of conciliation andcommunity justice. Although laws and administration actions have been adoptedto address these goals, progress has been limited; and many decisions remain to be taken.

Once basic decisions have been taken, there will be a need to analyze the problems and conflicts which will need to be addressed in implementing those decisions. The capacity of the justice sector's institutions to produce the necessary analyszs and to adopt action plans is limited by weak information systems and by weak or non-existent analytical offices within the sector's organizations. The Project will assist the sector organizations to produce the analytical work necessary in the short run for carrying out the reorganizationof the key sector organizations and for adopting a sector plan, and will assist in the institutional strengthening of the sector to analyze, plan and monitorits programs. While supporting the role of the MOJ as the rector of the justicesector, the Project will work with several of the sector organizations.

By the end of the Project the following should have been achieved:

Responsibilities within the sector's organizations will have been reassigned to carry out the decisions made by the Constituent Assembly and the Legislature concerning the operation of the sector;

Analytical and planning capabilities will have been established in the key sector organizations -- e.g., the Ministry of Justice, the court system, the Public Mnistry and the Public Prosecutors' Office;

A multi-year Sector Plan will be in existence which contains specific targets and mechanisms for evaluation and which is being used to guide the activities of the various sector organizations;

Issues of importance to the operation of the sector will have been analyzed and have resulted in concrete action plans; and

A system for a coordinated research program will be inexistence and used by the various organizations.

Restructuring of the Responsibilities and the Organization of the Sector Institutions

Once decisions are reached by the Constituent Assembly concerning the general organization of the justice sector and the role of its organizations,there will be a need for the preparation of draft laws, regulations and administrative arrangements to those decisions.carry out The organizationsmost likely to be effected are: the Ministry of Justice (including Legal

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Medicine and the prison system), the Judicial School, Carrera Judicial, Instrucci6n Criminal, the Office of the Attorney General and the proposed PublicProsecutors' Office. Each of those organizations is important to accomplishingthe purposes of the Project, and thus they are being supported by several of the Project's activities.

This activity of the Project will provide the normative arrangements under which those subsequent activities will take place and a refinement of the needs for further support in carrying forward their implementation. The outputs to be produced are: (i)draft organizational statements for the Ministry of Justice, the Judicial School, Carrera Judicial, Instruccion Criminal, the Office of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutors' office; (ii)drafts of proposed modifications to the codes which incorporate the necessary changesinvolved in the new responsibilities and organizational arrangements;(iii) draft regulations to carry out the changes in legislation and the organizational arrangements; and (iv)tentative plans of action for implementingthe changes. The Project will support the work of a team of experts from the private sector to work with representatives of the various sector organizationsin the drafting of the necessary documents. The work will be conducted underthe guidance of a director funded by the Project and of a committee consistingof the heads of the sector organizations involved. The experience of foreignexperts will be used on selected topics. Secretarial and logistic support will be provided by FES. The work will be performed during the first year of the Project.

/. '\ Creation of a Planning System for the•I Justice Sector and Its Organizations

Of all the justice sector institutions, only the Ministry of Justice has a planning office, and it is small and not yet prepared to meet the responsibilities of creating a sector planning system. The Project will addressthe need for planning through financing the preparation of plans and analysesby private sector entities for use by the sector, by providing institutional support to the Planning Office of the MOJ and of the key sector organizationsand by supporting the creation of a research agenda and a system to produce the information and analytical work needed for the planning effort.

Preparation of a Justice Sector Plan. The MOJ will form a sector planningcoordinating committee consisting of the Minister, the Attorney General, the President of the Consejo Superior de la Administration de Justicia and the head of Instruccidn Criminal or of the Public Prosecutors' Office. Itwill maintain contact with the police forces and the National Department of Planning. The committee will oversee the preparation of an indicative plan for the operationof the sector. Its method of operation will be to contract for the preparationof analyses and plans in particular aspects of the operation of the sector. Early priority will be given to the aspects of: the creation of a planning and evaluation system for the sector; the identification of the financial needs of the sector and a plan for meeting those needs; and the identification of the personnel and organizational needs of the sector and a plan for meeting those needs. The work of the team regarding the restructuring of sector will be utilized. (See subpart (b)above.) Future topics will be selected as part of the ongoing process. The objective is to have a comprehensive sector plan bythe end of 1993.

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Contracts will be entered with universities and private institutions. TheProject will finance the contracts to be used, and assistance to the MOJ inintegrating their results. It will provide limited technical assistance fromexternal experts in planning in justice sector operations. The MOJ will assurethe cooperation of the various sector organizations in the effort through theprovision of information and the detailing of personnel as may be necessary.

Strengthening of Sector Planning Offices. While heavy reliance will beplaced on the use of private sector entities for the production of plans for thevarious aspects of the justice sector, it also will be necessary to create andstrengthen the in-house planning capacity of the sector's organizations. TheProject will do so by including the planning function among the topics to beaddressed by the sector reorganization effort described under subpart (b)above,by financing trips by key sector officials to observe the operation of justicesector planning offices in other countries and through providing training inplanning and related topics to the personnel of the offices to be established. The training will be provided through Colombian universities, the JudicialSchool and, for a few key persons, through attendance at planning programs offoreign institutions. By the end of the Project, all the sector's organizationsinvolved in the Project will have functioning planning offices whose workguided and supported by the sector's planning system operating under the MOJ.

is

C ~ Creation of a Justice Sector Unified Information System and Research Program

Whether planning is performed by the sector organizations directly orthrough the use of contracted, private entities, it will be necessary to generate the information and analytical work required for performance of theplanning. Currently there severalare sources of information concerning theoperation of the justice sector; but no system exists for making themcomplementary (or even compatible), and what research is being done is beingperformed by interested private organizations without guidance from the justicesector organizations. The support severalProject will activities to changethis situation.

Unified Information System. The Project will build on the work to dateof the National Department of Statistics (DANE) and the previous design work ofthe Instituto SER, which resulted in pilot activities with the trial courts inIbague which were financed under the current AID Grant to FES. The collectionof the information will be through the sectional offices of Carrera Judicial for courts in the regional centers and through DANE for information on outlyingcourts. The sectional offices will organize and then distribute the information to interested organizations. The national office of Carrera Judicial will oversee the operation of the system. The implementation of the informationcollection and distribution system on a national scale will be gradual sinceconsiderable preparation, training of personnel and the provision of equipmentand other support is required for its installation in any area or function, andsince the transfer of responsibility from DANE to the offices of Carrera Judicial may well involve transitional problems.

The information collection systems of the other organizations in thejustice sector are less developed. Thus the Project will support an analysisof the types of information needed and available, the design and implementation

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of pilot activities to test ways of obtaining and organizing the information andthe design and implementation of the process of expanding the coverage of the new information systems to the national level. The design work will address theneed to have the various subsystems compatible with each other and eventuallyto be integrated into a unified data bank.

The Project will provide support for design work by contracts with privateexperts, equipment for the processing of the information and training for personnel of the Carrera Judicial and the other entities. Responsibility forthe conduct of the activity will be with a new information management office tobe created in the MOJ. The Project will provide consultant assistance in theorganization of that office and training for its personnel. Information management experts from outside Colombia will be use, as consultants. While theoffice is being prepared and strengthened it will use private organizations toconduct the analytical and pilot activities being supported by the Project.

Socio-Juridical Research. While the Planning Offices of sectortheorganizations will use the information to be collected in order to analyzeproblems facing the operation of their organizations, there also will be a nepdfor analysis of topics of broader scope or related to non-operational problems.Responsibility for such research and analysis for the sector resides in theMOJ's small Office of Socio-Juridical Research. The Project will assist that office to meet its responsibilities by providing a fund for contracting forstudies by universities and other private entities. The fund will be used in support of a multi-year program of research whose composition will be decided on by a committee of representatives of the major justice sector organizations.It also will be used to finance the studies which are needed by the MOJ'sPlanning Office. The Project also will provide consultants to assist the Officeof Socio-Juridical Research in conducting an inventory of existing studiesrelated to the justice sector and of the human resources available in Colombia to conduct further research. Finally, the Project will assist the office indisseminating the results of the research which it supports. Work on this activity will take place throughout the life of the Project.

The major outputs of this subcomponent will be: (i)a justice sector plan; (ii)separate analyses of planning issues; (iii) persons trained indisciplines relevant to planning and evaluation and in data collection and management; (iv)the design of a data collection system for the court systemand a plan of action for implementing the design; (v)the design and plan ofaction for pilot activities in information collection from other sectororganizations; (vi) the design for the new office of information management inthe MOJ; (vii) an annual research agenda for the sector; and (viii) research papers concluded and disseminated on topics included in the agenda.

e. Monitoring and Evaluation of the Performance of the Sector's Organizations

At present there is no office in charge of monitoring or evaluating theperformance of the justice sector and its institutions. The Public Ministrytheoretically isresponsible for overseeing the work of all the personnel of thepublic sector including their effectiveness. However, that organization has limited its attention to the exercise of pre-audit controls and to the investi­gation of serious infractions of laws or regulations. Furthermore, while the

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MOJ is likely to be charged with responsibility for the overall performance ofthe sector and its organization, it currently has no mechanism for exercisingthat responsibility. While the Instituto SER and FES have done some preliminaryanalysis of what might be the standards of evaluation to be applied, there is no agreement on that topic among the leaders of the justice sector.

The Project will assist the justice sector with two major tasks: (i)thecreation of standards and a system for monitoring and evaluating the performanceof the sector's organizations and their programs; and (ii)the creation ofstandards and systems for monitoring and evaluating the performance of thepersonnel of the sector's institutions. Both efforts will involve work with thevarious organizations, as well as the creation of sector-wide mechanisms forreview. Both efforts will depend on information to be provided by the unified information system discussed above.

Evaluation of Performance of Orqanizations. As part of the preparationof the sector plan under subpart (c) above, the Project will support thepreparation of standards to govern the performance of the sector'sorganizations. These standards will reflect the targets adopted by the plan andthe level of resources which the plan assumes will be provided to the variousorganizations. The work on information system under subpart (d)the unified above will include the identification of the types of information needed to measure the standards adopted and the design of the techniques for collectingthat information. The recommendations coming out of those two activities willbe reviewed by a sector monitoring committee to be organized under thechairmanship of the MOJ. That committee will decide what standards to use, what targets to accept and what information to collect to measure progress toward the targets. The Project will supply consultant services to the committee inmakingits decisions and in organizing the mechanisms to implement them. Thoseconsultant services would most likely be provided by the same group or personsworking on the planning subcomponent of the Project.

The outputs expected from this activity are: (i)the written expressionof the standards and targets to be used; (ii)the design of the system forcollecting the information needed to measure progress; (iii) persons trained inmonitoring and evaluation techniques; and (iv)yearly reports (beginning inyearthree of the Project) re the performance of the various organizations of the sector.

Evaluation of the Performance of the Personnel of the Sector's Organizations. Under this activity the Project will assist the personneloffices of the various sector organizations to adopt standards of expectedperformance and systems for measuring actual performance against thosestandards. Give the difficulty and sensitivity of the work on this topic, the steps will be taken with great care. The Project will supply consultantservices (including external advisors), but always after personnel offices havebeen established and charged with the task of creating a performance evaluation system. The consultants will work closely with the personnel of those offices. Inorder to lower the profile of the activity and to be sure that the particularcircumstances of each organization are taken into account, the work will not bedone under one contract or with one organization but rather done separately and at different times with the different organizations. The recommendations madewill be vetted widely within the organization before being put into effect. The

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manager of each organization will take the lead. The major outputs will be thedesign of, and plans of action for, personnel evaluation systems for the MOJ,Carrera Judicial, Instruccion Criminal, the Public Ministry and the new Office of the Public Prosecutor.

f. Protection of Justice Sector Personnel from Intimidation

The USG has been providing equipment and training in support of theprotection of the investigating judges assigned to the Special Jurisdiction of Public Order. The Project will continue to do so under subpart 2 (b) below. However, there also is a need to be able, on an ongoing basis, to assess the nature of the threats to those judges and to other personnel of the justicesector and to take steps to meet those threats in a timely way. Such acapability does not now exist. Thus, the Project will support the creation of a unit in the GOC to conduct analyses of threat levels and pre-emptiveinvestigations of particular threats. The work of the unit will be used in determiiing what additional security equipment and measures are to be taken, in assigning the security equipment which is available to the judicial system and in monitoring its use. Although the capability will be focused on the needs ofthe personnel of the Special Jurisdiction, itwill be available to support the whole justice system. The major outputs will be: (i)the design of the structure of the threat assessment unit; (ii)operations manuals for the unit;and (iii) persons trained intechniques of threat assessment and investigation.

Given its experience in other countries and its past work on providingsecurity training for judges in Colombia, ICITAP will be the channel throughwhich the Project will work on this topic. Advisors from ICITAP will work withthe Colombian agents who are to form the assessment and investigation unit in order to give on-the-job training and guidance. It is likely that DAS will supply both agents and support. The equipment required will be acquired by NAS with its own and Project funds. Given the importance of the topic, priorityattention will be given to this activity under the Project.

g. Public's Perception Concerning the Operation of the Sector and Its Organizations

The press offices of the sector's organizations traditionally have been oriented to recording the personal appearances of the heads of the organizationand issuing routine press releases. They have not sought to present information about the programs and the problems being addressed. Partly as a result of that situation, the mass media in dealing with the justice sector largely limits itself to reporting violent crimes. This situation contributes to the negativeview of the operation of the justice sector which is held by most people in Colombia. As that operation is improved through the efforts of the GOC and of this Project, itwill be important that the public's perception of the operationimproves as well. The Project will support efforts to accomplish that bysupporting the creation of a new approach to public relations in the sector'skey organizations and by the publication in the mass media of serious and reliable information concerning the sector and its programs.

Press Offices. The Project seeks to create a new type of press office -­one which addresses problems and actively provides information and orientation to the representatives of the public and the mass media. This effort will

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require persons who understand both the justice system and the operation of itsorganizations, as well as the needs of journalists and other types ofinformation handlers. willIt also involve the use of new outreachtechniques -- really a new attitude both on the part of the personnel of the press offices and on the part of the management of the sector's organizations.Since there is a need for convincing the leaders of the several organizationsof the utility of the new approaches, the Project will support the conduct of a pilot activity with one sector organization during the early part of theProject. Later it may support the replication of the new approach throughoutthe system. The Project will provide training (including observation trips toother countries), as well as consultant services in the design andimplementation of the new approach. The most likely organization to be used inthe pilot effort is Instruccidn Criminal since it is at the center ofconsiderable controversy and is crucial to several of the Project's activities.The major outputs will be: (i)the design of the structure and operation of the new press offices; (ii)an evaluation of the impact of a pilot activity by the new press office; arl (iii) persons trained in public information techniques.

Mass Media. Inorder to assure that topics which are of importance to thesector reform program are adequately explained to the public, the Project willfinance the purchase of weekly space intwo or three mass circulation newspapersfor use in informing the public about them. The Project also will providetraining re the justice system and its problems to journalists from the mediaselected. Those journalists will then be expected to prepare articles on thetopics selected of discussion, as well as any which may be proposed by thejournalists and approved for inclusion. The Project will provide a fund to beused in research by the journalists. However, the Project will exercisenot control over the content of the articles or editorials to be printed. That willbe the responsibility of the media and the journalists who are chosen toparticipate. In order to avoid the temptation of censorship, or the appearanceof censorship, the activity will be managed directly by FES rather than by anygovernment organization. Since this effort is highly experimental, itwill beevaluated after its first year of operation to decide whether it is to becontinued. The major outputs will be: (i)weekly pages in two or three masscirculation newspapers; (ii)journalists trained intopics of consequence to the justice sector and its reform program.

h. Public Education in Human Rights and Legal Process

A program has been prepared for FES of public legal education to promoteamong Colombians a better understanding of the rights and obligations ofcitizens, the meaning and importance of safeguarding human rights, the value of strong democratic institutions and the ways inwhich mediation can serve as analternative to litigation and violence indispute resolution. The objective ofthe program is to strengthen among the Colombia population the sense that theindividual has a role to play in upholding the legal system and maintaining thepublic order. An informed public will play an important role in the court"decongestion" process, as well, as this effort will be successful to the extentthat the public is aware of the existence of conciliation centers and iscommitted to their use. (See subpart 3(i) below.)

There are two aspects to the legal education programs: a formal programin civics and human rights education for the primary and secondary schools and

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an informal legal education program for adults in the local communities. A Colombian law faculty will collaborate with the Ministry of Education (MOE) inthe design of the formal education program, and will work with the staffs of theNational Rehabilitation Plan (NRP) and local community action groups to developthe informal education programs for adults. The effort will set priorities for and design the formal (primary and secondary schools) and informal (community)educational programs. Meanwhile, local groups will work on the community level to organize educational seminars for the public.

This activity will be carried out in the following phases:

Selection of Priority Legal Concepts and Design of Educational Materials. To initiate the effort, the faculty will work with the MOE and other groups todetermine the priority legal concepts to be included in the formal and informal education programs. They will review existing educational materials and designappropriate new materials including videos and printed handouts for use in the training seminars, classrooms and community group meetings.

Design and Preparation for Project Implementation Plan. During the nextseveral months, the faculty will meet with staff from the MOE to work onrestructuring the national primary and secondary school curricula to incorporateeducational units on the law and human rights. During this period, they also will collaborate with the NRP and local community action groups to design theadult community education programs. The faculty then will work with the GOC andlocal groups to develop a phased plan for both aspects of the education program.

Formation of the Regional Groups (Formal Program) and Initial Training ofTrainers. Toward the end of the first year of the activity, the faculty will organize eight regional groups composed of 60 primary and secondary school teachers from both public and private schools; and will initiate the "trainingof trainers" phase of the formal education program. The faculty will conduct training seminars for each of these regional groups, training 6,90 teacher"training agents" in all. These training agents will introduce educational units on the law and human rights in their classrooms, and also replicate thistraining for other groups of teachers and, if each of these trainers trains 30 additional teachers, a total of 14,400 new training agents will have been trained

To begin the implementation of the informal program, the faculty will organize and conduct three regional seminars for groups of selected regionalauthorities and community leaders. No specific numerical targets will be set for this group at the outset of the Project as research will need to take placeto identify who and where these leaders are. Once these leaders have beentrained, they will return to their communities to conduct courses, workshopsand/or seminars, or depending on the needs of the community, simply to make educational materials available to the public.

Second Phase Training of Trainers. Inthe third year of the activity, thefaculty will hold three more training workshops for the formal program, withninety teachers in each workshop, thus training 360 new training agents.Combined with the original 480 trainers, 840 trainers will replicate (the 480will repeat the process) their training to thirty new teachers each. With thisround of seminars, 25,200 new training agents will have been trained, or 25,560

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including the 360 new trainers. Combined with the previous cumulative total of 14,880, this activity will have trained 40,440 teachers.

Support and Follow-Up. The faculty will provide follow-up assistance tothe formal and informal training programs during this last phase of theactivity, updating the pedagogical materials and providing consultative s*%, vices to teachers and community group leaders, as necessary.

The Project will finance the contract with the faculty, the procurementof specialized equipment and the costs of workshops. The cooperating Colombian university will finance the reproduction and distribution of the materials tobe designed and pay the salaries and support costs of any of their personnel who are involved in the effort.

i. Fund for Further Analyses and Targets of Opportunity

The Project addresses a broad scope of problems facing the operation ofthe justice sector and in particular of the investigation and prosecution ofcrime. Many of the activities involve the support of ongoing analytical work.It is likely, however, that analytical work and activities not yet identified may become important during the life of the Project. This is due to several reasons. There are many important decisions concerning the structure andoperation of the justice sector which not yet been and whosehave taken resolution may present unanticipated problems or opportunities. Then, too,experience gained with the several activities being supported may well indicate that work on connected activities is called for. Furthermore, the focus on thepenal justice system may need to be broadened in later stages of the Project toinclude steps to introduce more orality into the process. These shifts inattention may be addressed by the periodic redesigning of the Project'sactivities -- most likely in the course of the preparation of the yearly workplans. In order to provide even greater flexibility, the Project will include a fund under the administration of FES to address needs which may arise andshould be addressed without waiting for the periodic reprogramming of theProject's funds. The use of this fund will be subject to AID's prior approval.

2. Increased Effectiveness of the Investi­gation and Prosecution of Serious Crimes

a. Objectives and End-of-Project Status

One of the major problems facing the improvement inthe performance of theColombia justice sector is its weak capacity to investigate and prosecuteserious crimes. Although the weakness is particularly serious in dealing withorganized crime (including narcotics trafficking and political terrorism) italso effects the way inwhich the crimes of ordinary criminals are handled. Theresult ot the situation is that the population has lost confidence in the jus­tice system with many asserting that criminals act with impunity. The reasons for this situation are many. However, the major problems are: (i)the lack oftraining of the various police forces and the investigating judges in the techniques of investigating crime and presenting evidence; (ii)the lack ofcooperation among the various police forces in their investigations and the useof technical facilities; (iii) the lack of selectivity and focus incarrying outthe investigatory and prosecutorial functions; and (iv)the intimidation and

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corruption of the police, the judges and the support personnel of the justice system.

The Colombian judicial and executive branches of government have beentrying to deal with these problems. Instruccion Criminal has provided trainingto the members of the investigatory police assigned to it. A SpecialJurisdiction of Public Order has been created to protect judges trom intimidation and to introduce procedures to expedite and improve investigations.A task force has been established to prepare for a new prosecutorial office tobe created if the Constituent Assembly approves the concept. The Project will build on those steps, and will assist the Colombian entities involved to carryforward the efforts undertaken. It will place particular emphasis on: (i)introducing and implementing thE, prosecutorial function both as a way of achieving coordination and guidance for the work of the police and focus andpriority to the work of the system; and (ii)providing equipment and trainingso that the judges and other key personnel of the system can be protected from intimidation and are free of corruption; and that the police and the justicesector personnel are faithful in their observance of the human rights of the population. Partly to assist in assuring such observance and fairness as thecriminal justice system incorporates elements of the accusatory system into itstraditional inquisitorial system, the Project also will help plan for the strengthening of the public defenders' system.

By the end of the Project the following should have been achieved:

A Prosecutor's Office will be established and functioning with the authority to set priorities for investigation and prosecution;

The Judicial Police forces will have improved substantially the coordination of their investigatory work and be responsive to the direction of the prosecutors and the judges;

The Special Jurisdiction will be fully established and providingeffective security to its personnel; and

A system of offices will exist to oversee the work of the police, the prosecutors and judicial system so that their personnel are free of corruption and observant of the human rights of the population.

b. Implementation of the Special Jurisdiction of Public Order

Inearly 1991 the GOC established a Special Jurisdiction of Public Order to handle crimes involving political terrorism and narcotics trafficking. TheSpecial Jurisdiction was created under Instrucci6n Criminal. It consists of a central office and five regional offices. The Special Jurisdiction differs from other offices of Instruccidn Criminal in several important ways. One, the reports of the judicial police which are made concerning the investigations of crimes are acceptable as evidence although judges were not involved in itscollection. Two, the identities of the judges handling particular cases are kept secret, and all communications between the judges and other persons(including the police) are conducted through the Administrative Director of each

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office who is responsible for assigning the work among the judges. Three, thephysical facilities of the offices of the Special Jurisdiction are to be made secure from attack, and personal protection is to be provided to the 82participating judges. Four, the administrative services for the judges areprovided on a common basis instead of each judge having his own personal staff.Five, a person detained by the police can be held for five days without theright to have contact with any other person, and the persons subject to acriminal investigation do not have the right to review the evidence beingcollected or their case file until the case has been presented to the trialjudge by the investigating judge. Although strongly supported by the MOJ anddeclared constitutional by the Supreme Court, the Special Jurisdiction has beenthe subject of serious criticism from lawyers (including the Deputy AttorneyGeneral) and by some members of the Constituent Assembly; and there is apossibility that the new constitution will contain provisions inconsistent with several of the key aspects of the Special Jurisdiction. However, even if that were to occur, the activities planned for this subcomponent would be useful for the Ordinary Jurisdiction.

The current AID grant to FES has assisted in the establishment of thisSpecial Jurisdiction through providing funds to contract for the Instituto SER to prepare operating manuals for it. NAS has provided security material for theseveral offices and for the participating judges; and ICITAP has providedtraining inthe use of that equipment and inpersonal security techniques. Allthe Special Jurisdiction offices are now established, although they have not allbeen completely remodeled and equipped. The National Police and the Technical Corps of the Judicial Police have established units to be responsive to theSpecial Jurisdictions, although arrangements for their working cooperation have yet to be worked out. Although communications and personal security equipmentand training have been provided to the participating judges and their escorts,not all the equipment isbeing used by the Special Jurisdiction and not all thejudges and their escorts have received the necessary training. FiJrthermore, theprotection provided to the judges, apart from that in the offices and duringtravel between home and office, is not consistent.

The Project will assist the Special Jurisdiction in improving its per­formance. The effort will include: providing additional security communica­tions and information management equipment; training investigators and judgesin investigation techniques and personal security; training administrative personnel in the new, joint administrative operations and in the management ofinformation; and establishing a network to gather information organizedon crime. The major outputs will be: refined manuals of operations for the central and five regional offices; police investigators and instructional judgestrained in various techniques; personnel trained in various aspects of theadministration of the offices; five regional offices fully strengthened andsupported by personal security measures for the judges and other key personnelworking in them; a communications system in place connecting all the offices ofthe Special Jurisdiction and the cooperating police forces; operating crime scene laboratories; an analysis of the information needs of the SpecialJurisdiction; and designs for programs to meet those informational needs and for the organization of police task forces.

Protection of Judges. $900,000 remain available NAS toto purchaseadditional security equipment. That amount and the equipment already provided

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should be sufficient to protect the 82 judges of the Special Jurisdiction. However, italso will be necessary to provide protection for the Administrative Directors of the regional offices, for key administrative personnel of theoverall system and for the prosecutors to be chosen for the proposed PublicProsecutors' Office. Thus the Project will include a fund for the purchase ofsuch equipment as may be necessary. NAS will handle the procurement of theequipment. The training will be provided by ICITAP. Those trainers will thenprovide training for all within the system who need it. For its part,Instruccion Criminal will provide the funds necessary to remodel the offices ofthe Special Jurisdiction and to provide the salaries and other support costs ofthe trainers and of the security personnel assigned to the offices and the persons to be protected. The Office of Threat Assessment beto established under subpart 1(f) above will support the efforts.

Training in Investigative Techniques and Use of Specialized Equipment.The Project will support the training of all police investigators andinstructional judges associated with the Special Jurisdiction in moderninvestigative techniques. The training will be provided through the Project'soverall activities with the Judicial School and the training units of theparticipating police forces. The content of the training will reflect theresults of the training needs assessments described in subpart (c)below.training of the instructional judges will include the management

The ofinvestigations. Training will be provided by instructors prepared by ICITAP

and, for specialized material, by the personnel of ICITAP and the organizationproviding prosecutorial assistance for the Project. For its part, InstruccionCriminal and the various police forces will provide salaries and other support c,sts of the trainers.

Communications and Investigative Equipment. Although NAS and other donorshave provided communications equipment for the regional offices of the SpecialJurisdiction to use in communicating with the various police forces and amongthemselves, there is likely to be a need for additional equipment as the needsof the Special Jurisdiction are clarified. Furthermore, there will be a needfor crime scene processing equipment for use by the police forces which arecooperating with the Special Jurisdiction and for specialized, forensiclaboratory equipment for their full-service crime laboratories. The exact needsfor such equipment will be determined through an assessment to be supported bythe Project. (See subpart (c)below.) The assessment will take into accountthe plans of the UNDP and other bilateral donors. It will be conducted byICITAP. NAS will be responsible for the procurement and delivery of theequipment. Instruccidn Criminal and the cooperating police forces will beresponsible for the preparation of the facilities to house the equipment.

Improved Administration. Although the basic organization of the SpecialJurisdiction is in place and operations manuals have been prepared, there is aneed for additional assistance in refining the procedures and preparing thepersonnel to carry them out. The major aspect of the work which needs attentionis the gathering and use of information concerning all aspects of the operationof the system: budgeting, accounting, personnel, asset control and casetracking. The work required is similar to that to be supported with the court system under subpart 3 below, and the systems developed should be as compatibleas possible with those prepared for the court system. However, here theresponsible entity is Instrucci6n Criminal, and the needs to be addressed must

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reflect the participation of both the police and judicial entities in the workof the Special Jurisdiction. The information system to be developed also shouldreflect the probability that the Special Jurisdiction will form part of a futurePublic Prosecutors' Office. The Project will support the analysis of theinformational needs of the Special Jurisdiction and the design of a program tomeet those needs. The program will include the acquisition of data processingequipment and technical assistance and training for the personnel of the SpecialJurisdiction in its use and inutilizing the data collected.

Coordination of Investigations. All three major police forces havepersonnel assigned to the responsibility of a judicial police -- that is,gathering and presenting evidence to the court system either at the request ofjudges or on their own initiative. The Technical Corps of the Judicial PoliceinInstruccion Criminal respond directly to that entity, and the National Policehave created special units to respond to the needs of the five regional officesof the Special Jurisdiction. However, there is still no system in place forassuring cooperation among the police forces or with the AdministrativeDirectors of the Special Jurisdiction. A committee of the chiefs of the variouspolice forces does exist, but its practical effect isnot great. Eventually thePublic Prosecutors' Office to be created may take on responsibility for thecoordination of the work of the various police forces. In the meantime, theProject will encourage such cooperation through the formation of task forcesconsisting of the chiefs of the police forces in the region, a representativeof the Public Ministry and the Administrative Directors of the regional offices.The Project initially will support the creation and operation of a modelforce in the Bogotd region to provide experience.

task The experience will be used

in all the regional offices. The support will be provided throughsubcomponent (e) below. ICITAP and/or the organization providing advice onprosecution will be used for that purpose.

Information Re Organized Crime. The basic purpose of the SpecialJurisdiction is to deal with the problem of organized crime. It is structured to collect and handle information concerning specific crimes committed whichwill be admissible as evidence injudicial proceedings. However, there isalso a need for other types of information that will enable the responsibleauthorities to anticipate the occurrence of crimes and to conduct investigationsof criminal organizations in order to be better able to produjce admissibleevidence when necessary. Eventually, this responsibility may reside with thePublic Prosecutor's Office. At present, it resides with the several policeforces. Other bilateral donors have been providing counter-terrorism trainingto the DAS. The Project will assist the GOC in analyzing the nee(- forintelligence and in preparing a coordinated program for meeting these needs.The work will be performed by ICITAP working with acommittee of representativesfrom the three major police forces. Itmay be performed in connection with thepreparation of the Public Prosecutor's Office discussed in subpart (d)below.

c. Improvement in the Operation of the Ordinary Jurisdiction of Instrucci6n Criminal

In addition to the Special Jurisdiction, Instruccidn Criminal isresponsible for the investigation and initial evaluation of the evidence in allserious crimes. It has its own judicial police force (the Technical Corps ofthe Judicial Police), as well as the right to call upon the judicial police

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components of the other police forces. (See Annex 1 for a fuller descriptionof the composition and operation of Instrucci6n Criminal.) Unlike the SpecialJurisdiction the ofjudges ordinary jurisdiction do not use consolidatedadministrative staffs and do not operate anonymously, and the only evidenceadmitted to the official files is that gathered or ratified by the judges.

Although the personnel of the ordinary jurisdiction are not subject to the same intimidation and possibility of corruption and do not face the same degreeof criminal sophistication as do those of the Special Jurisdiction, they sufferfrom the same weaknesses in their conduct of investigations. Thus there is aneed of similar assistance. However, the number of cases handled by theordinary jurisdiction is much larger, and thus the task of system-wideimprovement ismuch greater. Furthermore, the GOC proposes to introduce a newPublic Prosecutors' Office. All these factors suggest that pilot activities beundertaken to try out reformed procedures while decisions are reached concerningthe nature and scope of the future Prosecutors' Office. Thus the Project willsupport the design and implementation of pilot activities in three regionaloffices of Instrucci6n Criminal -- one in a major city, one in a medium-sized town and one in a rural area. The Project also will support the introduction,on a phased basis, of reforms in the organization of the central administrationof the organization and provide training in modern investigatory techniques tothe police and judges on the staff of Instrucci6n Criminal.

The major outputs of this subcomponent will be: (i)the design and planof action for pilot activities in the coordination and conduct of criminalinvestigations; (ii)an evaluation of the experience of the pilot activities andthe design for replication of their successful aspects; (iii) a plan for theintroduction of centralized administrative support to the work of the OrdinaryJurisdiction similar to that being used in the Special Jurisdiction;(iv)assessment of the training needs of the investigation agents of the policeforces and the preparation of training materials and courses to meet thoseneeds; (v) instructors trained to give courses to the police forces, and policeagents and judges trained ininvestigation techniques; (vi) an assessment of theneeds of the existing forensic laboratories and a plan for meeting those needs;(vii) a coordinated system of forensic laboratories and mobile crime scenelaboratories; (viii) the design of a pilot activity in the protection andsupport of witnesses and victims, an evaluation of the experience of the pilotactivity and the design of a program to replicate its successful aspects.

Pilot Activities. The basic purpose of the pilot activities will be totest ways of improving the investigation stage of the criminal process. Theywill focus on ways to encourage cooperation among the various investigatingpolice forces and between the police and the instructional judges, analyzing thesteps in the process which lead to delays and mistakes; and ways of expeditingthe handling of the operations of the office. The design of the pilotactivities will include the identification of the training and equipment whichwill be needed. Instruccidn Criminal will appoint a Director for the activitieswho will be assisted in the analytical and design work by consultants providedby the Project and the personnel of Instruccidn Criminal who will participatein the activities. Implementation of the pilot activities will be carried outby the personnel of the participating offices of Instruccion Criminal, actingunder the activity's Director. Instruccion Criminal will be responsible for thesalaries and the operating support of its personnel. After the creation of the

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proposed Public Prosecutors' Office, it may assume the responsibilities of Instrucci6n Criminal. The Project will supply assistancetechnical andequipment as needed, and will evaluate the experience during the second year ofthe Project. Thereafter the Project will support the design of a program for extending throughout the system the techniques which have proven useful. Thetechnical assistance will be provided through ICITAP and the organizationproviding advice on prosecution.

Improved Administration. In distinction to the Special Jurisdiction,little change has been introduced into the administration of the ordinaryjurisdiction of the central operations of Instrucci6n Criminal. Since changessimilar to those being introduced into the Special Jurisdictions would bebeneficial, once they have been accomplished in the Special Jurisdiction theProject will support their introduction into the operations of the ordinaryjurisdiction and the central administration. As in the case of the SpecialJurisdiction, emphasis will be placed on the gathering and use of information.

Training of Judges and Their Support Personnel. Training will be providedto the instructional judges and their support staffs. In the case of the judgesthe training will be focused on investigative techniques and the management ofinvestigations. In the case of the support staff the training will addressadministrative topics, and be focused on the gathering and use of information.The training will be the responsibility of the Judicial School, although theinstructors of investigation techniques probably will be trained by ICITAP.

Training of Investigative Police. The Project will assist the three majorjudicial police organizations to train their agents. It will train instructors to be used in the training units of the Technical Corps of the Judicial Police and of the National Police, and will provide equipment for the use of thoseunits. Specialized courses, such as those concerned with forensic medicine,will be given by external consultants. Both introductory and in-service training programs will be prepared. They will include the topic of the natureof admissible evidence. The Project will support the completion of a trainingneeds assessment for the investigatory police forces. Using the results of thateffort, curriculum planning will take place and instructional material will beprepared. Given its experience in this type of training inother countries in Latin America, ICITAP will be used as the channel for preparing the needs assessment and providing the technical assistance required by the participatingtraining units and for providing the specialized training required.

Forensic Equipment and Technical Assistance. There are three forensic laboratories in BogotS -- one in the National Police, one inDAS and one intheLegal Medicine Office of the MOJ, which is used by the Technical Corps of the

several All Legal Medicine are poorly equipped, and their personnel lack training.Furthermore, there are no administrative procedures in place guide

Judicial Police and has regional offices. the facilities except

to investigators and judges in determining the most appropriate facility for the type of work required. The Project will support the creation of a coordinated system of forensic laboratories to support the investigation of serious crimes.The first step will be the conduct of an assessment of the facilities that exist and of what is needed. That assessment will produce recommendations concerningequipment and training needed and recommendations of how best to provide theforensic support needed by the major police forces and by Instrucci6n Criminal

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in both its ordinary and special jurisdictions. Given its experience with thetopic in other countries, ICITAP will be used to conduct the assessment. Itwill work with a task force of representatives of the police forces, InstruccionCriminal and the MOJ. Thereafter, the Project will finance the acquisition ofthe equipment, the provision of training in its use and technical assistance inorganizing the laboratory system to be created. ICITAP is likely to be thechannel used for providinq the technical assistance and for organizing the necessary courses. Prior to the purchase of the equipment the GOC will providea plan for the conduct of the forensic function, and assurances concerning theprovision of salaries and operating costs for the laboratory system.

Support for Victims and Witnesses. The level of cooperation of victimsand witnesses with criminal investigations is low. This is a result ofintimidation, lack of confidence in the effectiveness of the system and of afailure of most victims and witnesses to understand how the criminal justicesystem works and what is expected of them. This situation contributes to thelow rate of completion of investigations and of convictions. The Project will encourage the addressing of this problem through exploratory consultancies andthe conduct of a pilot activity. The consultancies will assist key Colombianofficials to understand the mechanisms that exist U.S.in the and othercountries to support the participation of victims and witnesses inthe criminaljustice process. The pilot activity will be designed by those Colombianofficials and consultants provided by the Project. It will be implemented bya Colombian justice sector organization to be selected during the design phase.The Project will meet all the costs of the pilot activity except the salariesof government employees who participate in it. Given the higher priority ofother Project activities, work on this aspect isnot likely to begin until thesecond or third year of the Project. At the conclusion of the second year ofthe operation of the pilot activity, the Project will fund an evaluation and thedesign of a program to expand the coverage of those approaches that have provento be useful. Funding for the expansion will be provided by the GOC.

d. Creation of a Public Prosecutor's Office

The GOC has presented a proposal to the Constituent Assembly that itestablish a Public Prosecutors' Office (called a Fiscalia General), and the GOChas established a taskforce of the leaders of the justice sector to beginplanning for the creation and operation of such an organization. The currentAID Grant to FES is financing the work of two teams of consultants to assistthat task force. The purpose of the new organization will be to give betterfocus and direction to criminal investigations and to attain some of theadvantages of the adversarial system. The scope of responsibility of the neworganization islikely to be that now addressed by Instrucci6n Criminal, and themost likely mechanism for establishing the new institution will be to use the assets of Instrucci6n Criminal and to select the new prosecutors from among theranks of the existing instructional judges and the agents of PublictheMinistry. However, Colombian justice officials acknowledge that they do nothave a good understanding of what are the practical steps called for increatinga prosecutorial system. (For further discussion see Annex 2.)

Since the creation of a prosecutorial system would be of major importanceto the improvement of the Colombian criminal justice system, the Project willassist the Colombian justice officials in its design and implementation. The

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Project will support observation trips by key Colombian officials (includingmembers of the task force) to the U.S. and other countries with prosecutorialsystems and consultancies in Colombia by persons from the U.S. and othercountries who have had experience in the operation of prosecutorial offices. Thereafter, the Project will support the work of a team of Colombian andexternal experts to prepare draft laws to carry out the decision of theConstituent Assembly and the design of a program to create and implement the neworganization. The draft laws and the design will address such major topics as:the degree of autonomy of the office and its relationship to the other entitiesof the sector; the role of the office in guiding the work of the several policeforces; the degree of prosecutorial discretion to be allowed; the standards tobe used to protect the integrity of investigations; and the needs for trainingand support for the personnel of the new institution. The design will providefor the creation of an organization which has its own capacity for information management and control of its own personnel. Consideration will be given to thecreation of its own training facility as well, although that facility would be part of the justice sector's training system to be guided by the Judicial School.

The Project also will assist in the implementation of the design byfinancing the acquisition of equipment needed, the preparation of manuals andother implementation documents, the provision of technical assistance in their use, and the preparing of training courses of the personnel. Topics for whichspecial training is likely to be required are the management of criminalinvestigations, the conduct of the investigation financialof crimes, andstandards and mechanisms for exercising prosecutorial discretion. BecauseColombia lacks experience with a prosecutorial system, external advisors willplay a particularly important role in this aspect of the Project.

There are various sources which may be used for providing this externalinput. A PASA agreement could be entered with the U.S. Department of Justice.A contract or cooperative agreement could be entered with the Attorney General'soffice of one of the states or with an academic center specializing in workrelated to prosecution or one of the associations of prosecutors or district attorneys. Direct arrangements with an individual or a private firm in theU.S., Europe or Latin America could be utilized. Indeciding which approach totake the Project will emphasize the need to have Spanish-speaking persons whohave had experience both in actual prosecution and in the running of aprosecutorial office, and who are knowledgeable concerning the operationcivil law systems. It also will be important that the advisory work under this

of

subcomponent not be reviewed as subservient to other purposes of the USG no matter how important those purposes may be. Otherwise the advice may not be taken constructively.

e. Strengtheninq the Public Defenders' Office

It is estimated that sixty percent of the persons charged with crimes inColombia are too poor to afford their own defense lawyer. Prior to 1987 such persons were defended either by law students or by lawyers appointed by the courts on a pro bono basis. In1987 legislation was adopted creating the Officeof Public Defense Counsel in the MOJ. The office consists of fifteen lawyersand fifteen support personnel. Its basic function is to manage contracts with some 350 lawyers who provide defense services to defendants who cannot afford

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their own lawyers. The work of the office is hindered by its small size andrelatively poor facilities. The need for such services is likely to increase as the ability of the State to investigate and prosecute crimes improves and asthe criminal justice system adopts the philosophy and procedures of theaccusatory system for serious crimes. The strengthening of the public defensecounsel function, however, has not been a priority of the MOJ.

The Project will support analytical work on the nature and magnitude ofthe needs of a publicly financed defense counsel system as part of the long­term reform program for the criminal justice system. The analytical work willinclude the analysis of alternative approaches and the design of several pilotactivities to test those alternative approaches. Among the alternatives willbe a substantial expansion of the number of full-time, employed lawyers; the useof universities, the bar, and representatives of major law firms working on a pro bono basis; and the use of other private organizations on a reimbursable basis. The design of the pilot activities will take into account the needs fortraining and the likely affordability of the model on a system-wide basis.Project also will provide for an evaluation of the pilot activities and

The the

design of a program to replicate the approach or approaches determined to be most suitable.

The work of this activity will be carried out by a Colombian institution.The Project also will support the participation of external consultants fromorganizations providing this type of service in other countries. The GOC willbear the costs of replication of the program designed under the Project.

f. Participation by Private Sector

Preparation of Private Defense Counsel. The changes in procedures to beintroduced with the creation of a pubic prosecutorial function and movementtoward a mixed inquisitorial and accusatorial system probably will cause concern to those lawyers who represent criminal defendants. Their concern will be even greater should the reform eventually include the greater use of such proceduresas oral hearings, cross examinations and public trials. This concern could welllead important segments of the private bar to oppose the reforms -- if for no other reason than fear that they will be less effective in representing their clients.

The Project will support training for the judges, prosecutors, policeinvestigators, the Fiscales of the Public Ministry and, eventually, lawyersassociated with the Public Defenders' Office so that they can meet theresponsibilities of the reformed criminal justice system. If similar trainingis made available to the private defense bar opposition to the reforms may belessened and the system would operate more fairly. Thus, the Project willfoster the provision of such training by supporting the design of appropriatecourses by the Judicial School and selected universities which could be offered to private lawyers on a reimbursable basis. The cost of the activity would bemodest since the design would rely on the work already done in preparing thetraining program for the personnel of the sector organizations. No externalequipment or technical assistance would be required beyond some orientationvisits by representation of U.S. legal associations who could explain theapproaches taken to continuing legal education in the U.S.

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Involvement of Law Faculties and the Bar. The GOC reform program for the justice sector has been evolving over the last year, and currently is the subject of considerable debate inthe Constituent Assembly and among members of the legal profession and the informed public. That discussion, however, isnot always based on a very good understanding of the reasons for, or the meaning of,the reforms being proposed. Furthermore, while some members of the universitylaw faculties have participated in the preparation of the reform program, they are concentrated in the University of the Andes; and they are mainly linked tothe current government. If the reforms in the criminal justice system are to be accepted by the legal community, much less fully implemented, it will be necessary for that community to become better informed about them and for a broader segment of the legal community to identify with them. Responsibilityfor seeing that that occurs rests on the GOC and particularly on the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General. To assist them the Project will supportvisits to Colombia of academic and other experienced persons who can participatein discussions with groups of members of bar and ofthe the several law faculties and their alumni groups. (Such visits have begun prior theto authorization of the Project using other funds.) The Project also will supportthe holding of workshops of members of the law faculties and the organized bar to discuss the various topics and steps involved in the reform. The several analyses and designs being produced by the other subcomponents of the Projectcould be the subjects for those workshops. FES will provide the planning and logistic support for these activities.

g. Oversight by the Public Ministry

The Public Ministry has a wide range of responsibilities. (See subpartII.B. above.) Of greatest consequence to the purpose of the Project is its responsibility to oversee the actions of the personnel of the public sector. It investigates actions by that personnel which may constitute crimes or infractions of duty which call for administrative sanctions, and it tries to assure that the personnel follow the standards and procedures called for by the law. The former responsibility is exercised largely through the Office of Special Investigations and the latter through the delegates to the various public sector offices. The Public Ministry can impose sanctions against publicemployees who fail to apply the law properly and refer to the courts the reportsof its investigations of actions which constitute crimes.

The current Attorney General has prepared a four-year program for improving the capability of the Public Ministry to meet those responsibilities.The program calls for the extensive training of personnel, the systemization of operations through the wide use of computers and the training and equipping of the Special Investigations staff. Support for planning the restructuring of the Office of the Attorney General and for its overall improvement will be providedthrough subcomponents 1(b), (c)and (d)above. Funds to assist in implementingthe results of those activities may be provided later under subcomponent 1(i)above. This subcomponent will provide support to the program insofar as it relates to the operation of the criminal justice system since the Public Ministry is the only Colombian entity which has responsibility over all the organizations operating in the sector --the courts, the police forces, the MOJ and semi-independent agencies such as Instruccidn Criminal -- and since the Public Ministry is specifically charged with assuring that the personnel of those organizations respect the law and human rights.

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Training and Support for Fiscales. The Office of the Attorney General hasFiscales assigned to the courts, the police forces and Instruccidn Criminal, and its is likely to have Fiscales assigned to the proposed Public Prosecutors' Office. These Fiscales are lawyers who participate in,and review the actions of, the judges, police agents and support staff in carrying out the law. The Fiscales lack training, however, and are not provided effective administrative and operational support, nor are they given effective guidance and supervision.The Project will assist the Public Ministry in providing the needed training,support and guidance. Re training, the Project will support: (i)the conduct of a training needs assessment of the Fiscales and an assessment of how best to provide the training needed (whether through the Judicial School, the use of several existing training facilities or the creation of an in-house trainingunit); (ii)the preparation of a training plan to carry out the conclusions ofthe assessment; and (iii) the implementation of the plan. Re support and guidance, the Project will focus on information management and case tracking.It will support: (i)an assessment of the work to date in gathering and managing information which will include recommendations for its improvement;(ii)the design and conduct of a pilot activity in Bogotd to link the information center of the central office to the offices of the various Fiscales and to the information systems in place and being created in the court system,the police forces and Instruccion Criminal; (iii) the design of a program based on the pilot experience which will consolidate the information system inBogotdand extend it throughout the country; and (iv)the training, technical assistance and equipment purchases necessary to carry out both the pilotactivity and the implementation of the full system.

Investigations of Serious Infractions and Potential Crimes. The Office of Special Investigations is in charge of investigating potential crimes and serious infractions by public sector employees. Itconsists of 50 professionalsfrom different disciplines and 39 administrative personnel. The work of this office suffers from several weaknesses. Itdoes not have a system for assigningpriorities to cases or for undertaking proactive investigations rather than merely responding to complaints. Its personnel do not have training inmodern investigative technique or in techniques required for investigatingsophisticated crimes such as those involving the banking system. There is noorganized career system for the personnel of the office. The Project will assist the office in overcoming these weaknesses. Itwill provide training inmodern investigative techniques to the personnel of the office; technical assistance in conducting a training and institutional needs assessment and in the design of the program to meet the needs identified; technical assistance in the organization of the office (including the personnel system to be followed)and the adoption and implementation of standards for assigning priorities to cases and undertaking investigations on the office's own initiatives; trips toother countries to observe the operation of the offices in charge of the investigation of public sector corruption; and equipment as needed. Since the effort involves both investigation techniques and the interplay of prosecutorialand police activities, the -roject will use the resources of both ICITAP and the organization providing prosecutorial advice.

Support for Internal Control Offices inthe Justice Sector Organizations.None of the justice sector organizations now have offices with the responsibility for assuring that the personnel of their organizations observe the law and applicable ethical standards. The Attorney General favors the

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creation of such offices so that his own investigations staff can devote itstime to major investigations. The Project will assist in the creation andoperation of these new offices. The training and other work under the various activities of the Project will address the needs of these offices as well. ThePublic Ministry will remain the organization with the basic responsibility under the law, and itwill provide back-up and specialized support to the offices inthe various sector organizations. The Project will assist the Office of theAttorney General in setting up a unit which will assist in the creation andfunctioning of the individual units. The Project will provide technicalassistance in developing standards of operations, design training for its members and provide advice during its operations. That special unit, in turn,will provide similar assistance to the various offices in the sector organizations.

3. Improved Operation and Strengthened Independence of the Court System

a. Objectives and End-of-Proiect Status

Traditionally, the court system has received administrativeits andoperational support from the MOJ which prepared its budget; provided itsmaterials and supplies; paid its personnel; and provided what training was givento that personnel. The traditional system did not work well, and it was believed to be incompatible with a fully independent court system. Thus, in1987 the Carrera Judicial was created by law within the court system to assumeresponsibility for its administration. It is now responsible for thepreparation of the budget of the court system, for administering the personnelsystem of the court system and for managing the physical resources of that court system. It operates through a central office in Bogotd and branch offices inthe 27 judicial districts of the country. The management of real estate and theprovision of training has remained in the hands of the Ministry of Justice.However, the Constituent Assembly is considering the creation of a new entityto be responsible for all the support required by the court system -- includingtraining and the acquisition and management of real estate.

Although Carrera Judicial has made some progress in exercising itsresponsibility for the administration of the court system, it remains weak in important respects. Furthermore, the training provided to the personnel of the court system has been inadequate to meet their needs. The Project will assistCarrera Judicial to improve its performance and to plan for and to carry out theadditional responsibilities (including that of providing training), which arelikely to be placed on it in the near future. In doing so the Project willbuild on the activities that have been supported by the current AID Grant to FES.

By the end of the Project the following should have been achieved:

A new organization will be created and in operation within the court system with responsibility for all aspects of the administration of the court system;

The court system will have modernized systems for data collection, planning and evaluation, personnel management, case

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tracking, asset management, and budgeting and financial management;

RespQnsibility for the administration of the court system will have been delegated to a substantial degree to the sectional offices of the judicial districts;

The use of offices of common services by clusters of courts will have been adopted throughout the system;

Computerized recordkeeping and data collection will be widelyutilized within the system;

The court system will have an institution capable of providing or arranging for the training needed by the personnel of the court system, including the training for new judges and traininginadministrative and management aspects of the operation of the court system;

There will be a justice sector training plan that coordinates the training being provided by the court system, the policetraining facilities and the universities to assure that a focus on the sector's priorities is being achieved; and

The court system will publish periodic reports for the publicconcerning its performance.

b. Desiqn of the Orqanization of the Institute for Judicial Administration

Assuming that the Constituent Assembly agrees to the creation of a newentity to be responsible for all aspects of the administration of the court system, the Project will assist in preparing the draft laws and decrees to carryout those decisions through the activity described in subpart 1(b) above.However, it also will be necessary to prepare detailed organizationalarrangements and to design programs to implement the new organizationalarrangements. Responsibility for those actions is likely to reside in theConsejo Superior de Administracion de Justicia. The Project will assist theConsejo in meeting that responsibility. It will provide funds for thecontracting of a group of consultants to prepare the needs analyses and thedesign of the necessary activities. The design will include the generalstandards and operating procedures to be followed and estimates of the financialrequirements. Itwill address the composition and method of operations of theConsejo itself, including the need for greater continuity in the representationof the Supreme Court on the Consejo, and the possible use of annual meetings ofjudges to discuss the problems confronting the operation of the system. The contract group will work together with representatives of Carrera Judicial.The work can be undertaken simultaneously with the work on the draft law andregulations. However, the results are not likely to be available until the second half of the first year of the Project.

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c. Strengthening Key Functions of the Institute for Judicial Administration

Assistance in the design of the structure and standards for the operationof the Institute for Judicial Administration will be provided under subpart (a)above. The Project also will provide support to the implementation of several of the key functions to be performed by the Institute. These functions are nowthe responsibility of Carrera Judicial, and work on them can begin even before the creation of the Institute which is likely to be built on the current structure of Carrera Judicial. The following are the functions which have been identified as needing priority attention. During the course of the Projectother functions may be addressed as well through reprogramming of the Project'sresources. Inorder to assist the court system inthis effort, the Project willprovide the ongoing advisory services of an experienced court administrator.

Preparation of Operations and Personnel Manuals. In order to carry outthe decisions and designs reached under subpart (b)above itwill be necessaryto prepare operations and personnel manuals for the of the centraluse andsectional offices of Carrera Judicial and to train the personnel of CarreraJudicial in their use. The Project will fund the preparation of those manualsby consultants working with Carrera Judicial, and will include necessarytraining in the program described in subpart (g)below. The consultants willinclude persons with experience in the management of sizeable systemscourtoutside Colombia. As part of the preparation of the manuals, analyses will bemade of the actual work being performed by the personnel of Carrera Judicial ascompared to their position descriptions, and new position descriptions will beprepared as necessary. The manuals will take into account the state ofutilization of computers in the work of the organization, and be revised fromtime to time to reflect the anticipated increase in the use of automatedprocedures. The manuals and their use will be the subject of review after a year in order to adjust them to take account of the experience. The Projectwill provide consultant assistance to that effort as well.

Design and Implementation of an Information System. Support for theimplementation of an information system will be provided under subpart 1(d)above in order to encourage the creation of a sector-wide, integratedinformation system.

Planning and Evaluatior. General support for the establishment of aplanning and evaluation office and a personnel evaluation function will beprovided under subparts i(c) and (e)above. Italso will be necessary, however,to provide specific support to the planning and evaluation activities of the court system until such time as the court system has developed the internalcapacity to perform its own analyses and its own evaluations. The Project willdo so by providing consultant services both in the conduct of analytical workand in the holding of workshops to discuss problems and the results of the analytical efforts.

d. Systemization and Consolidation of Internal Court Support Services

Under the current AID grant to FES, pilot activities have been conductedinthe provision of administrative support to several courts from common service

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offices and in the use of computers to organize the internal operations of the courts. The results of those pilot activities can be used to extend theseapproaches to rest the court system.the of Carrera Judicial will beresponsible for organizing the replication effort. The Project will assist thateffort by financing the acquisition of the necessary equipment, the design ofoperating manuals and the provision of training and technical assistance.

Systemization of the Internal Operations of the Courts. Pilot activitieshave been carried out in the use of computerized systems inorganizing the work of several intermediate appellate courts in BogotS and other cities, ofmunicipal courts in a mid-sized town (Itagui) and of a sectional ofoffice Carrera Judicial, which provides support to the circuit courts, in adepartmental capital city (Manizales). In the process, different software programs have been developed, and different mixtures of manual and computerapproaches have been used. Carrera Judicial estimates that extending thesystemization effort to the whole court system will require some 900 additional microcomputers and 500 printers. Before proceeding with the acquisition of thatequipment, however, it will be necessary to take steps to assure that acompatible program is prepared from the various pilot efforts, and that thepersonnel of the courts receive the training necessary to be able to use the equipment properly.

The first step in the process will be the conduct of an evaluation of thKseveral pilot experiences to determine their useability. The second step willbe the preparation of a replication program that will involve a training plan,the choice of a limited number of software programs, and standards for usingmanual or computer-based techniques under differing conditions. The third stepwill be the refinement of the equipment needs and its acquisition. The trainingplan will be executed, and the equipment and new procedures put into practice,on a phased basis according to the replication program. The Project willfinance the technical assistance team to assist in carrying out those steps.The team will include persons from outside Colombia who have had experience in the implementation of computer-based operations in judicial systems.Thereafter, the Project will finance the acquisition of the equipment. Carrera Judicial will be responsible for the cost of salaries and operating costs of the personnel and offices involved in the effort.

Utilization of Common Support Services. The pilot activities in Itaguiand Mazinales have included the provision of administrative services to the several participating courts form a central office. In the case of Itagui theadministrative personnel of the participating courts were transferred to that common office. In the case of Manizales they were not. As in the case of the use of computerization in the internal work of the courts, itwill be necessaryto evaluate the differing experiences before undertaking a system-widereplication effort. Indeed, the steps to be taken in carrying out suchreplication are similar to those for the systemization effort. Thus, they maywell be taken together and assistance provided by the same team. The majortasks of implementing the approach be of preparing thenew will necessaryoperations manuals and providing the training required of the personnel. The Project will provide financing for the technical assistance needed to accomplishthose tasks. Carrera Judicial will be responsible for the salaries andoperating costs of the participating personnel of the court system and for

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taking those organizational and personnel steps that are identified as necessary

by the implementation plan.

e. Provision of Legal Information to the Courts

Courts to not receive organized information concerning the law (e.g.,legislation, decrees and judicial opinions) in a timely way. The DiarioOfficial, which does contain the texts of legislation and decrees, contains muchother material as well; is not organized by subject matter; and isdistributedfrom Bogotd late and ina disorganized manner. Although studies have been madeby organizations apart from the court system of the possible use of computersystems to organize and distribute legal information and although the SupremeCourt and the Council of State have prepared indices and extracts of theirdecisions, no system for the continuing classification and distribution of legalinformation exists. Carrera Judicial proposes to undertake the distribution toits sectional offices (and then to the courts) of the texts of new legislationand decrees and to provide computer equipment and training to the personnel ofthose offices so that they can have access to the ISIS program re jurisprudencebeing implemented by the Supreme Cuurt and the Council of State. However, theredoes not exist an overall plan for the accomplishment of a system of providingcomputerized and traditional copy information as may be called for by the varying circumstances.

The Project will assist Carrera Judicial and the other, interestedorganizations of the sector to review the work to date, to clarify the optionswhich exist for future work and to prepare an integrated program for addressingthe need. The design will include suggestions for the assignment ofresponsibilities among the sector organizations and the estimates of the costof preparing and operating the integrated system. Funds for the implementationof the design will be provided through support from the GOC and possiblereprogramming of the resources of the Project. The analysis and design workwill be performed by a group of national and external experts working withrepresentatives of the various interested sector organizations. The effort willbe under the guidance of a director funded by the Project, and logistic supportwill be provided by FES.

f. Strengthening the Capability and the Role of the Judicial School

The Judicial School was founded in 1970 to provide training for thepersonnel of the court system and for the Fiscales of the Public Ministry. Its current form and the structure of its programs date from early 1987. TheJudicial School ispart of the Ministry of Justice. In1990 ithad 32 employeesand provided in-service training to 5,806 persons. (Further informationconcerning the Judicial School, its operations and its programs is given inAnnex 4.) The GOC has proposed to the Constituent Assembly that responsibilityfor the operation for the Judicial School be transferred to the court system.Whether or not that transfer of responsibility takes place, there are a seriesof important decisions to be made concerning the role and the programs of the Judicial School. They are:

The extent to which the Judicial School should develop the internal capability to provide instruction rather than to

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contract other institutions, such as universities and the FES Leadership Institute, to provide the instruction;

The extent to which the programs of the Judicial School should emphasize the orientation and preparation of new judges (to overcome the deficiencies of their law school training);

The extent to which the programs should emphasize training in administrative and operational skills rather than impartingknowledge concerning the provisions of the codes;

The extent to which the programs should include training for judges in investigative techniques and other technical subjectssimilar to the training being provided to police agents and bythe three police training units;

Whether the Judicial School should be responsible for coordinating and overseeing the training provided by other entities working in the justice sector the most important of which are those of the three major police forces;

Whether the Judicial School should focus exclusively on the training needs of public sector personnel or also address the training needs of private persons and entities, such as the personnel of the conciliation centers, whose operation is important to the justice sector;

Whether the Judicial School should be responsible for the training of the prosecutors and other staff who are to constitute the proposed Public Prosecutors' Office and the lawyers and other staff who will constitute the strengthened system of publicly financed defense counsel; and

Whether the Judicial School also should be responsible for the provision of documents and other types of legal information to the personnel of the justice system?

Furthermore, regardless of whether responsibility for the Judicial School is transferred to the court system and irrespective of how the above issues are decided, there is a need to strengthen the Judicial School as it now operates.

The Project will assist the GOC in analyzing the issues confrontingtraining in the justice sector and in reaching decisions concerning them. It also will provide assistance in strengthening the institutional capability ofthe Judicial School to carry out its current responsibilities and such futureresponsibilities as may be given to it. The GOC will provide the salaries and support costs for its personnel who participate in the work, and will exert its best efforts to achieve the timely adoption of the laws and issuance of the regulations necessary to carry out the decisions reached. By the end of theProject the Judicial School should be operating under a clear mandate and have training programs which are meeting the identified needs of all the personnelof the court system.

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Analyzing Issues and Implementing Decisions. The Project will providetechnical assistance in the analysis of the issues idntified above. It isexpected that the analytical effort will be organized by the Judicial School butinclude representatives of all the organizaticns in the sector. The technicalassistance will be provided through contracts with organizations inColombia butinclude the participation of persons from outside Colombia with experience inproviding training to judicial systems (including police investigators). Thework will be done in conjunction with that described under subpart 1(b) above.The analyses will involve a coordinated training needs assessment of the variousorganizations of the sector, and will include recommendations concerning theresolution of the issues presented. Once the decisions have been made, theProject will assist the working group to prepare organizational arrangements and to design programs to implement these arrangements. A system will be designedfor preparing a multi-year sector training plan and for keeping that plancurrent as further changes are introduced to the sector. Depending on thetiming, the work may be performed in conjunction with that under subpart (b)above. The major outputs of this subcomponent will be: (i)analyses of majorissues facing the conduct of the Judicial School; (ii)a completed trainingneeds assessment for the sector which incorporates the efforts of the various sector organizations; and (iii) a multi-year training plan for the sector toprovide guidance to the activities of all the sector's training units.

Institutional Strengthening. Although the decisions reached on the issuesoutlined above will have a very significant impact on how the future programsof the Judicial school are to be conducted, there are institutional needs to be addressed in any event. They are:

The Judicial School plans to create six regional learningcenters to make its current and future programs more accessible;

The Judicial School has distributed 7,000 open-formatquestionnaires to judges and Fiscales to assist it in identifying their training needs, and it will need to analyzethe replies, as well as take other steps, to develop a valid training needs assessment on which a multi-year training plan can be based;

- There is a need to identify and provide training to the personswho will act as instructors for the courses to be provided in the future;

- There is a need to organize a system for the production of the training materials to be used in the courses to be given;

The Judicial School needs to improve its capacity to print the materials needed current futurein its and correspondence courses.

The Project will assist the Judicial School in meeting these needs on aphased basis. It will begin with the completion of the training needs assessment of the personnel of the system and withcourt improving thepreparation and production of the instructional material for use in thecorrespondence courses which are under way. The Project will finance consultant

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services from both Colombian and external sources and equipment and furnishingsneeded by the Judicial School and its regional learning centers. The majoroutputs will be: a report of the training needs of the personnel of the court system; a multi-year plan for providing the necessary training; six regionaltraining centers equipped and organized; the design of a system for producinginstructional materials; instructional materials for courses; and a roster ofapproximately 200 persons who have been trained to be the instructors of courses identified as needed by the personnel of the court system.

g. Training Program for the Personnel of the Court System

The Judicial School has been training between 5,000 and 6,000 persons a year from the court system. Most of them have been judges. Most of the courses have been short term. Some involve full-time attendance at classes and someonly part-time attendance supplemented by self-instruction and tutorialservices. The courses are given by instructors contracted by the Judicial School and by universities and other entities contracted to give courses eitherdeveloped by the Judicial School or by the entities themselves. (For further information concerning the courses see Annex 4.)

The Judicial School has identified the following as the priority areas forits training in the near term: administrative processes, personnel management,orientation in the new provisions of the codes, ethics and human relations, the nature and meaning of the judicial reform under way, criminology and orientationin information systems and computer operations. This focus, in general, is consistent with the training needed to support the other components of theProject. The focus will require more and different instructional materials and additional training for instructors.

The Project will assist the Judicial School in carrying out the expandedtraining program. It will not finance the usual, ongoing courses which will continue to be offered or arranged by the Judicial School. Rather, the Projectwill finance the preparation of materials and the training of instructors togive the new courses. The activities under subpart (f) above will besupportive, but their impact is likely to be felt in the latter two years of theProject. Thus, in the first two years the Project will have to rely largely onthe work of persons or organizations contracted for the preparation and conductof particular courses. To ensure that these courses are as supportive of the overall Project as possible, the overall training plan of the Judicial Schoolwill be submitted to the Project's for review.Executive Committee its Themajor outputs of this subcfiponent during those first two years will be:(i) instructional materials For some 300 training events; (ii)220 persons hired or trained to give courses; (iii) 9,000 members of the judicial system trained (some persons will receive more than one course).

h. Morale and Dedication of Judges

The pressures to which the judges have been subjected over the past decadeand the weak performance of the justice system in general has led to low self­esteem and morale among the judges and even to a lessening of their dedication to the spirit of justice and the rule of law Other subcomponents of the Projectseek to improve the technical and organizational support for the performance ofthe judges and to provide training to them in both the legal and the

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administrative aspects of their work. Over time these improvements should lead to an improvement in the performance of the judges and consequently in their feeling of self-esteem. However, the need for strengthening those qualities is so great that more direct action isneeded.

The Project will provide a fund to be administered by FES to try severalapproaches. Among the possibilities are the preparation of a "charter" ofresponsibilities to be sworn to publicly by the judges; prizes to be awarded tojudges for distinguished or heroic service; trips to, and internships in,external jurisdictions to observe the role of judges and to toreport back groups of judges in Colombia concerning the strengths and weaknesses of thoseroles and how they might be adopted to Colombian conditions; and the trainingof selected judges to be key faculty members or advisors to the Judicial School.This is an experimental activity. Ifone or more of the techniques prove to be particularly effective, the fund in subcomponent 1(i) will be used to extend its coverage.

i. Fostering the Use of Conciliation

The 1990 Law of Court Decongestion (Ley de Desjudicializacion) proposesthe establishment of a network of conciliation centers throughout the country.The law requires that all labor and most civil, traffic, administrative andfamily disputes pass through a process performed by government or judicialofficials before initiating a case. Mediation also is to be available for thosewho seek itinchambers of commerce, law school legal clinics, bar associations,legal foundations and other types of associations that meet the requirementsoutlined in the law (i.e., any type of an organization with at least 100members, which has been in existence for two years and has the authorization bythe MOJ). Parallel systems of conciliation centers in the public and privatesectors will be established to provide the widest possible national coverage.According to the law, except for the lawyers-in-training at the legal clinics,all conciliators must be lawyers, and all must go through some type of conciliation training. The private sector conciliation centers are permittedto charge fees for services rendered, which are regulated by the MOJ, and thepublic sector offices will not charge for services rendered. The MOJ willregulate the operation of both the public and private conciliation centers to assure they conform to the norms outlined in the legislation.

Two part-time advisors, funded by the current AID Grant to FES, have beenassisting the MOJ in drafting the regulations which will govern theimplementation of the law. Most of the work on these regulations has alreadybeen completed; and the special advisors to the MOJ, faculty members from theJudicial School and the personnel of FES have been providing training in thepractice of conciliation and arbitration to the personnel of the variousorganizations likely to participate in the effort. The Project will continue this support.

The first conciliation centers to be assisted will be established in theprivate sector -- in municipal chambers of commerce and law school legalclinics --to take advantage of pre-existing network and infrastructure and theexpertise inconciliation that is already under development. The Project willfund the development and dissemination of educational materials on conciliation,and further training will be provided to the chambers of commerce staffs, MOJ,

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law schools and private foundations. The model conciliation center beingformalized in the Bogotd Chamber of Commerce will be replicated in a total of 20 chambers of commerce around the country (including the 11 that have alreadybegun offering conciliation/arbitration services). The chambers of commerce selected will be in cities of populations of 150,000 or more. Once they havebeen trained, conciliators from the chambers of commerce (with the assistanceof instructors from the Judicial School and FES' staff) will provide trainingto law students working in legal clinics around the country. It is expectedthat 20 law school legal clinics offer conciliation services to the localcommunities. The chambers of commerce conciliation centers will collect feesfor their services and, therefore, will be self-sustaining once the initial training has been provided. The law school legal clinics will offer mediation services on a pro bono basis, and the schools will cover all administrative expenses.

The Project also will fund the cost of two advisors to the MOJ for anadditional year to assist in finalizing the regulations and the institutionalization of the system. Education materials on conciliation willbe developed and disseminated for administrative court officials, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) and the regional offices of the Ministry ofLabor and the National Institute of Transportation (INTRA). Faculty membersfrom the Judicial School, the MOJ advisors and FES staff will offer conciliation training to the staff of the ICBF and the municipal offices of the Ministry ofLabor. In rural areas, where no chambers of commerce or law schools existwithin easy access to the local population, volunteer community conciliators (Conciliadores en Equidad), will be appointed by the respective district courts to provide mediation services to their follow citizens. These individuals will be selected on the basis of their moral character and standing inthe community,and will receive training in the practice of mediation.

The Project also will help the MOJ to design a publicity campaign bycontracting the services of a private advertising firm to educate the publicabout the availability of conciliation services and to urge their use. On thelocal level the regional public defenders offices will play the role ofpromoting the use of conciliation centers among the community.

The outputs to be produced by the Project will include: conciliation staff trained, community conciliators trained, instructional materials for thetraining of the personnel involved in conciliation, manuals of operation for the conciliation centers, reglementation of the system of conciliation centers,analyses of potential sites for conciliation centers, the design of a publicitycampaign, and the materials to be used in that campaign. By the end of theProject there will be conciliation centers in 20 chambers of commerce, 20 lawschool legal clinics and 20 public centers. Those centers will be financiallyself-sustaining. Volunteer citizen conciliators will be operating in the countryside.

V. SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT BUDGET

The total budget for the project is$43.025 million. AID will contribute $35.958 million or 84% of the total budget. The GOC and the participating

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private sector entitles will contribute the equivalent of S7.067 million or 16%.The following tables show the total budget broken down by input categories, bycomponents, by yearly expenditures and obligations, by estimated foreigncurrency and local currency expenditures, by method of implementation andbenefiting and managing organizations. InAnnex 8 the Project's budget isshownby component, activity and year of intended expenditure.

udqeProtct bYComonents (U.S. $ooo)

Component USAID Counterpart Total 1. Improved Sector Organization 5,297.0 14.2823.6 6,120.6 2. Increase Effectiveness of

Investigation/Prosecution 12,307.8 2,062.4 14,370.2 33.43. Strengthen Courts 14,941.3 4,088.8 19,030.1 44.2 4. Administration 3,066.3 20.0 3,086.3 7.2 5. Audits/Financial Services 127.3 40.8 168.1 0.4 6. Evaluation 218.5 31.2 249.7 0.6

Total 3 7,066.8 43,025. 0 Percent 84 16 100

AID Contdbuton by Foreian and Local Currency (US so)

COMPONENT Y.AR I FX LC

YEAR2 FX LC

YEAR 3 FX LC

YEAR 4 FX LC

TOTAL FX LC

ImrewcOrgaintlonPlannInga&Cordinati 1,3117 342.8 811.0 S65 89.1 1,025.0 4&6 1,0303 2.25Z4 3,044.6 Increae Effeatfymwg of invi galoeVProm¢utlonon Silouw Crime

the

3,793 1,7909 1.9463 1,642.9 1097.9 1,107.1 399.9 527.3 7239.6 5,06.2

StrengthlenngCourt Syualm 1,9910 1,826.6 1,406.9 2,112.3 1.4a19 2,047.2 1.424.0 2,481.3 6,514.9 8,426.4 Admnlrtlon 341.8 432.3 296.2 419.1 306.0 436.3 371.0 4 1413130 1.753.3

Audi nMFinancial Servica 30.0 31.2 32.4 317 1 r7.4

EraiuIolon 70.0 72. 75.7 21&5 Total 7,441.0 4,421.8 4,620,4 4,642.0 3,067.7 4.647,0 2.419.31 4.,0 117,53X4 8.419

49% 51%

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Project Budget by Inputs ($)

Project Input

1. Outside Technical Assistance

2. Local Technical Assistance

3. Salaries

4. Training

5. Commodities

6. Audits/Financial Services

7. Evaluations

Totals

AID CounterDart

8,465,500 9,000

5,699,168 1,364,612

1,366,660 2,673,662

5,076,364 1,585,220

15,004,559 1,362,274

127,400 40,800

218,500 31,200

35,958,151 73066,767

Total %

8,474,500 20

7,063,780 16

4,040,322 9

6,661,584 15

16,366,833 38

168,200 1

249,700 1

43,024,918 100

Project Budget by Benefiting Organization

Benefiting Organization

A. Ministry of Justice

B. Carrera Judicial

C. Instrucci6n Criminal/ Public Prosecutor

D. Judicial School

E. Public Ministry

F. Other

G. Administration

H. Audits/Financial Services

I. Evaluations

Total

Budget Project --

Fiscal

Year USAID

1991 6,500.0

1992 13,825.2

1993 10,704.7

1994 4,928.3

Total 35,958.2

(U.S. $000)

USAID

2,434.9

13,068.9

8,203.2

1,952.5

3,497.2

3,389.2

3,066.4

127.4

218.5

35,958.2

Counterpart Total

622.0 3,056.9

2,511.4 15,580.2

577.1 8,780.3

1,753.0 3,705.5

1,323.8 4,821.0

187.6 3,576.8

20.0 3,086.4

40.8 168.8

31.2 240.7

7,066.9 43,025.1

Obligtions by Fiscal Year (U.S. $000)

Counterpart

1,515.9

1,906.5

1,828.8

1,815.6

7,066.8

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Total %

8,015.9 18.6

15,731.9 36.6

12,533.5 29.1

6,743.9 15.7

100.0

Budget Pro.iect --Disbursements by Prolect Year (U.S. $000)

Year USAID Counterpart Total70 Year 1 11,862.8 1,515.9 13,378.7 31.0 Year 2 9,462.4 1,906.5 11,368.9 26.0 Year 3 7,704.7 1,828.8 9,533.5 22.0 Year 4 6,928.3 1,815.6 8,743.9

Total 35,958.2 7,066.8 43,025.0

Prolect Budaet --Disbursements bv Components and Prolect Year ($000)

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Total Protect AID Count. AID Count. AID Count. AID Count. AID Count. Total

Component 1 1,656.5 260.2 1,447.5 188.5 1,114.4 192.1 1,078.9 182.8 5.297.0 823.6 6,120.6

Component 2 5,584.4 700.4 3,591.2 518.8 205.0 447.4 927.2 395.8 12,307.8 2.062.4 14,370.2

Component 3 3,817.8 525.7 3,608.2 1.179.2 3,540.1 1,168.5 3,975.4 1,215.4 14,941.3 4,088.8 19.030.1

Administration 774.3 20.0 714.3 0.0 740.3 0.0 837.4 0.0 3.066.3 20.0 3.086.3

Audits 30.0 9.6 31.2 10.0 32.4 10.4 33.7 10.8 127.3 40.8 168.1

Evaluations 0.0 0.0 70.0 10.0 72.8 10.4 75.7 10.8 218.5 31.2 249.7

Totals 11.862.8 1,515.9 9462.4 1,906.5 7,704.7 1.828.8 6,928.3 1,815.8 35.958.2 7,066.8 43,025.0

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AID Contribution by Method of Implementation

Implementing Method of Amount Project Input Document Implementation ($000) %

1. Outside Technical Assistance PIO/T Direct, L/C 6,023.6 16.8

2. Local Technical Advance, Assistance PIO/T Reimbursement 6,832.5 19.0

3. Training PIO/T Direct 8,137.5 22.6

4. Salaries PIO/T Direct 1,652.0 4.6

5. Commodities--Imported PIO/C Direct j,594.2 26.6

6. Commodities--Local PIO/C Direct 3,372.5 9.4

7. Audits/Financial

Services PIO/T Direct 127.4 0.4

8. Evaluations PIO/T Direct 218.5 0.6

Total Budget 1100.0

Technical Assistance

The outside technical assistance for this Project iscomposed of two majorelements: ICITAP's assistance and the technical assistance to be provided for improvement of administration, modernization, coordination and systemization of the administration of justice. ICITAP is estimated to provide about 82 personmonths; its total cost is $3,781,400 or 63 percent of total outside technical assistance. The outside technical assistance proposed to support the rest of the Project covers an estimate of 225 person months and amounts ot $2,242,200 or 37 percent. The direct support is $2,133,200. The rest, $109,000, is to cover the cost of the coordinator/interpreter for the educational trips of Colombian functionaries traveling abroad and some scholarships programmed byICITAP.

The local technical assistance is that needed to design, plan, implement,promote, make pilot projects, evaluate and disseminate information. These activities do not involve training as such. Secretarial support and other non­professional assistance are reported under salaries if they are paid by AID.

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Training

Under training we have listed all activities that involve direct transfer of technology. This includes workshops that discuss the findings resulting from the studies, evaluations and pilot activities.

Managing Organizations

Of the total AID contribution of $35,958,200, ICITAP will manage$5,321,200, of which $2,322,000 are for direct activities and $2,999,200 foradministration costs. FES will manage a total of $17,672,500 - $6,832,500 to contract local technical assistance; $5,815,500 for part of the training program;$1,652,000 for local salaries and $3,372,500 for procuring local commodities andservices. AID may manage $12,964,500 - $3,875,000 to contract outside technical asisstance; $8,742,700 for direct purchases inthe U.S.; and $345,900 for audits and evaluations. The following chart summarizes the division.

Pro.iect Budget -- by Managing Unit

(U.S. $000)

ICITAP FES AID Total

1.Outside Technical Assistance 2,147.7 -- 3,875.9 6,023.6

2. Local Technical Assistance -- 6,832.5 -- 6,832.5

3. Training 2,322.0 5,815.5 -- 8,137.5

4. Salaries -- 1,652.0 -- 1,652.0

5. Commodities--Imported 851.5 -- 8,742.7 9,594.2

6. Commodities--Local -- 3,372.5 -- 3,372.5

7. Audits/Financial Services .... 127.4 127.4

8. Evaluations .... 218.5 213.5

Total Managed 5,321.2 17,672.5 12,964.5 35,958.2

Percent 14.8 49.1 36.1 100.0

VI. PROJECT ANALYSES

A. Administrative Analysis of FES

The Foundation for Higher Education (Fundacion Para la Education Superiorof FES) was founded in 1964 as a non-profit organization modeled after U.S.philanthropic organizations such as the Ford Foundation. Its original purpose

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was to provide support for the University of Cali. Over the years, however, FES has grown very substantially insize and inthe scope of its activities. Itnow has a headquarters inCali and branch offices infour major cities. Itconducts banking operations which in 1990 generated earnings of $931,000 on an asset base of $45 million. FES' banking operations have been growing faster than the overall Colombian economy. The profits generated by the banking operations are used to finance the social projects which are supported by FES. Italso received contributions from abroad for that purpose. For instance, in 1990 FES received $3.6 million from various external agencies of which $1.4 million was under the AID Grant described in Part II.C.1, above.

FES has developed an administrative and financial management system to respond to its various activities. Inits conduct of the current Grant from AID,FES has supplied the financial and other reporting called for in the agreement.It is the subject of yearly audits by an independent Colombian audit firm. The findings which require attention appear to be dealt within a timely way. AID currently is arranging for a final independent audit of FES' handling of the current Grant and for a review of FES' financial controls and management. The results of that audit should be available early in the life of the Project, and any findings will be given prompt attention.

To carry out the current AID Grant, FES contracted a full-time ProjectDirector, two full-time subject matter coordinators and two secretaries, a part­time assistant to the Project Director, and a part-time accountant. FES also used the regular staff of its accounting and administrative departments to assist in conducting the work under the Grant. In order to meet the increased responsibilities under the Project (pursuant to which FES is likely to handle $17.7 million over four years compared to the $2.8 million ithas handled since late 1986), FES will contract an additional two full-time subject matter coordinators; and make the accountant and administrative assistant full time. Since FES' role will be somewhat more focused on administration and somewhat less on the operation of activities, the persons to fill the contract positions underthe Project will have had considerable administrative and management experience.(For additional analysis and information, see Annex 5.)

B. Political and Social Soundness Analysis

The GOC's strategy for improving the justice sector isdiscussed inAnnex 2 and Part III.A., above. The legal and organizational changes which are necessaryto carry out that strategy are discussed in subpart (C)below. Annex 3 presentsbackground information concerning the political and social situation of Colombia. The predominant characteristic of that situation is the high level of violence to which society is subjected. Violence has been a fact of the political and social life of Colombia for decades. Inthe last decade, however, it has been rising steadily as organized crime became wealthy through drug trafficking, asthe longstanding guerrilla movements both initiated armed attacks and respondedto the government's aggression against them, and as the hundreds of foot soldiers of those violent movements became involved in crime on their own as well. The combination of the rising violence and the weak performance of the criminal justice system isplacing a strain on the democratic institutions of the country,and causing the population to question whether the legal system can in fact protect them. The positive side is that the situation makes clear that reform

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is necessary in the way the justice system is operating, and thus strengthensthe political will of the GOC and the political class to do something.

The following are the major political and social issues facing theaccomplishment of the Project as designed.

Actions of the Constituent Assembly. As discussed in subpart (C)below,several of the steps which are planned by the GOC under its strategy may need,and would be greatly assisted by, changes in the Constitution. The proposalsfor such changes have been presented to the Constituent Assembly. The current AID Grant to FES isassisting inthe preparation of the analytical work relevant to the consideration of the changes proposed, and AID will finance consultations to the GOC by persons experienced inthe matters under discussion. The prospectsfor the adoption of the proposals appear to be good. It isnot certain, however,that they will be adopted. Political competition and the influence of funds fromnarcotics traffickers could cause difficulties. Should the Constituent Assemblynot adopt the proposed changes, the design of the Project will need to be modified to provide for less sweeping reform.

Impatience with Violence. The reforms being introduced under the Projectwill take time to have impact on the way the justice system acts and how it isperceived by the population. The degree of disillusionment of the public withthe operation of the system is so great, however, that may bethere littlewillingness to wait for those results. Furthermore, the power of the groupsinvolved in organized violence is still so great that they probably can causethe justice system to seem to be ineffective should they make it their prioritypurpose to do so. Thus the success of the Project and the reform program willdepend greatly on other political and military events which are outside its scope.

Resistance by the Legal Profession and Opinion Makers. Several aspectsof the reform program are controversial with important persons in the legalprofession and among opinion makers. This controversy could lead to their notbeing implemented or to their being overturned or rendered inoperative. The most controversial aspects are: (i)the use of anonymous judges and the closingof the official investigation files to the defense until the investigation phaseiscomplete; (ii)empowering the judicial police to investigate crimes on their own initiative and without direction from judges; (iii) the creation of aprosecutorial system which makes the lack of effective defense counsel a moreserious imbalance inthe system and would give discretionary power to an officein,or subject to the influence of, the executive branch; and (iv)the increased use of persons in the executive branch or under its influence to performjudicial-type functions. Ineach of these areas the Project will have to addressthe need to convince people of the wisdom of the measures, as well as assist in their design and implementation.

Resistance to Coordination by Police Forces. The Project seeks to achievethe coordination of the three investigating police forces among themselves andwith the court system and the proposed Office of the Public Prosecutors. Whileintheory the National Police and the DAS agree to cooperate fully, in fact theymay not be willing to accept any greater direction from the other parts of thejustice sector than they have in the past. Indeed, there are intelligence andother types of political needs which may be inconflict with such cooperation.

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Since those two police forces do not report to the Ministry of Justice it will be difficult to obtain their cooperation on any matter which is not in their interest. This could have particular negative impact on the ability of the justice system to deal with infractions or failures by those very police forces. In part to address this problem, the Project will strengthen the capacity of the Public Ministry to oversee the work of the police forces and will operate with the support of the Office of the President.

C. Legal/Technical Feasibility Analysis of the Project

There are a number of legal/technical issues that must be addressed and whose resolution will have an important effect on the implementation of the Project. Many of these legal issues will be resolved once the Constituent Assembly issues the new Constitution in July 1991.

Constitutional Changes. In the preparation of the Project, certain assumptions were regarding reforms willmade the that prevail when the new Constitution takes effect. Many of the proposed activities assume that the new Constitution will move the Colombian criminal justice towards an accusatorial system by creating a Public Prosecutor's Office which would have the exclusive responsibility of prosecuting the defendant; and will reinforce the autonomy of the judicial branch by creating an Institute of Judicial Administration with comprehensive powers. Because of these assumptions the Project is allocatingfunds to aid in the implementation of these new constitutional reforms, and the drafting of the new Criminal Procedure Code.

Constitutionality of Court Decongestion Measures. The constitutionality o, the "Court Decongestion" law, approved by Congress in December 1990 and recently signed into law by the President, might be appealed by private citizens. If this happens, the Supreme Court will have to review its constitutionality. Basically, this law fortifies the role of the Police Inspectors, and encouragesdispute resolution mechanisms apart from the court system. Some experts believe that the law presents constitutional problems regarding the transfer of serious misdemeanors to the Police Inspectors' jurisdiction.

Legal Status of the Judicial Police Academy. The Academy of the Technical Corps of the Judicial Police has no legal status, and therefore cannot legallyreceive funds from the national budget. Up until now the Academy has been functioning thanks to funds that have been provided by the budget of Instrucci6n Criminal and by AID. If the Project intends to fortify the Academy and expectsthe GOC to contribute to the effort, the GOC will need to convert the Academyinto a legal entity by presenting a bill to that effect to Congress.

Use of Oral Procedures. One of the main characteristics of the presentColombian justice system is that it is basically a written system under which the judges make decisions based on legal memoranda and depositions. With the introduction of the use of prosecutors, the system could explore the possibilities of introducing orality and publicity in the system by encouragingthe use of more oral hearings and possibly oral Those steps could helptrials. in keeping the system fair if the government's proposal to limit access by the defendant to evidence during the investigation stage is accepted.

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D. Financial Analysis

1. Counterpart Contribution

The Colombian counterpart contribution to the Project is$7,066,900. The counterpart ismade up of the value of (i)the use of office and classroom space,vehicles and computer systems; (ii)the salaries of government employees whoparticipate in the Project's activities as instructors, advisors, speakerstrainees; or

and (iii) technical support. In addition, FES' management willcontribute uncompensated time to the implementation of the Project's activities,and will continue to use its good offices to interest other private sectororganizations to participate in the Project's activities. Most of the counterpart will come from the various participating government agencies.However, the value of that time and the future participation of the other privatesector entities has not been given a value.

2. Prospects for Post-Project Support for the Project's Activities

The activities being supported by the Project which are most likely to needcontinuation beyond the life of the Project are those directed at: improvingcriminal investigations by the police and the new Office of the PublicProsecutors, improving the administration and operations of the court system andproviding training to the personnel of the sector's organizations. During thelife of the Project reforms will be introduced into those aspects of theoperation of the justice sector; a substantial number of persons will be trained;and technical assistance, equipment and some budget support will be provided to the analytical work, pilot efforts and replication programs. The most likelyongoing needs will be to continue the training and to carry forward thereplication programs. The need for external technical assistance and moreequipment should be less than during the life of the Project, while the level of budget support needed is likely to be greater.

It is difficult at this time to make an estimate as to what will be thebudgetary requirements for the major organizations involved in the Project to carry forward the reform program after the completion of the Project. (Part ofthe reason for improving the sector's planning process is to enable the MOJbetter to estimate the financial needs of the justice sector.) Itisreasonable to conclude, however, that the GOC will be able to provide the resources which are required. Given the importance attached by the political system tocounteracting violence and improving the operation of the justice system, the program islikely to enjoy considerable political support ifthe Project has anysuccess inintroducing improvements. Furthermore, itisestimated that the levelof budget support required by the Project during its last two years is likelyto be inthe range of the equivalent of $1.816 million per year. That representsless than one percent of the current yearly budgets for the MOJ, the Public Ministry and the court system.

3. Administrative Costs

The Project's administrative costs are estimated to be the equivalent of$3,086 million. That represents 7.2 percent of the total Project costs. AIDwill provide $3,066 million. The main uses of the administrative costs of the Project are set forth in the following table.

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3. Administrative Cots

The Project's administrative costs are estimated to be the equivalent of $3,086 million. That represents 7.2 percent of the total Project costs. AID will provide $3.066 million. The main uses of the administrative costs of the Project are set forth in the following table.

Administrative Costs

(U.S. $000) U.S. SI = 600 Colombia Pesos

Description Year I Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Proiect Total Component AID Count AID Count. Count AID Count, &a Cou, Total

1. AlO-Cotombia

Project Coordinator 104.0 0.0 84.0 0.0 84.0 0.0 104.0 0.0 376.0 0.0 376.0

Assistant Coordinator 33.7 37.0 36.4 37.9 143.1 143.1

Subtotal 137.7 119.0 120.4 141.9 519.1 519.J 17.0

2. Executive Committee 25.0 0.0 25.0 0.0 25.0 0.0 218.6 100.0 0.0 100.0 3.0

3. FES

Personnel 194.3 202.1 210.2 218.6 825.2 0.0 825.2

Vehicle 15.0 15.0 0.0 15.0

Office Equipment 20.0 0.0 20.0 305.8

Direct Costs 72.0 _ 74.9 77.9 81.0 305.8 0.0 305.8

Subtotal 281.3 20.0 277.0 0.0 288.1 0.0 299.6 0.0 1,146.0 20.0 1.166.0 38.0

4. ICITAP

Personnel 176.6 133.7 141.0 198.7 650.0 0.0 650.0

Administrative

Support 147.6 153.5 159.6 166.0 626.?' 0.0 626.7

Overhead

and Fees 6.1 6.1 - 6.2 -6 2 24.6 34.6

Subtotal 330.3 0.0 293.3 0.0 306.8 0.0 370.9 0.0 1,301.3 0.0 1,301.3 42.0

5. Total 774.3 20.0 714.3 0.0 740.3 0.0 837.4 0.0 3,066.4 20.0 3,086.4 100.0 22223 2Z2233 man3 =a==2=Z222 ==am =2220 22223 =2==Z =23I 222I = 2223322

* Includes S240,000 to be paid to FES for in-country support.

The responsibilities of the various entities for the implementation of the Project and of how they will meet those responsibilities are described in Part VII below. An analysis of FES' capacity for meeting the financial and other responsibilities under the Project isgiven insubpart A above. The issues concerning the administrative budget for the Project which arose during intensive review are analyzed in Annex 9. The following is a summary description of the composition of the administrative budget.

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a. AID

The Project will finance the salary and benefit costs of two professionalPSC employees for the AID office. The budget assumes that one of the positionswill be filled by a non-Colombian professional person, and thus the cost includesthe appropriate allowances and benefits as well. The budget also assumes thatthe PSCs will be provided office space and support by the AID Office or by FES.

b. Executive Committee

The Project will finance amodest support staff for the Executive Committeeof the Project. The budget includes the salary and benefits for two Colombianprofessional persons to work at least half-time for the Director of the ExecutiveCommittee. The budget assumes that office space and support for the staff will be provided by the Office of the President.

c. FES

FES will be the major implementing agency of AID for the conduct of theProject as it has been under the current Grant from AID. Because of the increased level of activities under this new Project, FES will increase the levelof staff time devoted to the Project. Itwill add two full-time professionalpersons to be subject matter coordinators; add a full-time accountant andassistant to the Director; and increase from part time to full time anadministrative assistant. The employees of FES whose compensation isto be paidby the Project are the following:

Position

Project Director Assistant to the Project Director Four Area Coordinators Accountant Systems Operator Administrative Assistant Bilingual Secretary Regular Secretary Janitor Messenger (part time)

The yearly compensation of the above persons represents an 81 percent increase over the level of compensation being paid under the current Grant from AID. Thisis due to the increase in personnel time devoted to the Project and an averagenet salary increase for the current staff of 21.8 percent. (For furtheranalysis, see Annex 9.) AID will approve both the persons to occupy thesepositions and the level of their compensation to be financed by the Project.

The Project will fund the purchase of a vehicle for the use of FES for itswork on the Project. FES will supply any additional office furnishings and equipment which may be needed.

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The operating expenses of FES' work on the Project are estimated to be theequivalent of $6,130 per month. This compares with the monthly level of theequivalent of $2,877 under the current Grant. The increases are due to the support needed by the additional personnel. A comparison of the monthly costs is given in the following table.

U.S. $

Current Grant Proiect

Office Space 356.25 712.50 Telephone 200.00 350.00 Electricity 173.34 346.68 Water 53.70 107.40 Office Materials 571.67 857.50 Outside Services 200.00 300.00 Maintenance of Equipment 395.84 712.51 Maintenance of Space 0.00 66.66 Maintenance of Vehicles 0.00 66.66 Security 29.46 58.92 Travel 516.66 1,550.00 Per Diem 380.00 950.00

2,876.90 6,129.83

FES does not have an audited overhead rate for indirect costs nor has itaccumulated information on which a provisional overhead rate could be calculated.Itwill gather that information during the first year of the Project and proposethe use of an overhead rate during the following years. AID also will use theresults of the audit and survey to be conducted during FY 1991 to judge the appropriateness of FES' proposal.

d. ICITAP

The personnel costs of ICITAP to be paid by the Project reflect the salaryand benefits of one professional U.S. employee to be stationed inColombia fulltime and one Colombian secretary for that professional employee. The direct costs to be paid by the Project include local and international travel of theprofessional U.S. employee ($60,000), office supplies and equipment ($20,000),the cost of logistic and other in-country support to the ICITAP activities($240,000) and the cost of the Washington-based support of ICITAP's U.S. contractor ($70,400). The administrative overhead and fees to be paid by theProject are those of ICITAP's contractor associated with its Washington-basedsupport. Overhead and fees charged by that contractor in connection with theprovision of the instructors and technical advisors ($1,288,000) are included

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in the activity costs of the relevant subcomponents. (For further discussion,

see Annex 9.)

4. Local Costs

As set forth in Part V above, $17.538 million of the AID funds will bespent for goods and services of U.S. source and origin. $18.420 milion of the AID funds will be spent inColombia for local procurement consisting of technicalservices, publications, materials, office furniture, computer programs inSpanishand rent and other minor items. No single good within that procurement islikelyto cost more than the equivalent of $5,000. Any such item or the procurementof any goods or services from a third country will be the subject of individual waivers.

VII. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

A. Obligation Arrangements

The Project will be authorized at a level of $36 million in ESF funds tobe provided incrementally over the four-year life-of-project. A Grant Agreementfor this amount will be signed with the Government of Colombia. It will besigned by the Minister of Justice, the President of the Supreme Court, theAttorney General, the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Finance to assurethat all the participating government entities are supportive of the program.ThE Agreement will include the provision that AID may subobligate funds directlywith other organizations with the prior approval of the Minister of Justice.

InFY 1991 $6.5 million will be obligated through the Grant Agreement withthe GOC. The tentative planning for the implementation of the Project indicates that $13.8 million will be obligated in FY 1992; $10.7 million in FY 1993, and$4.9 million inFY 1994. The timing of the obligation of these funds will depend on events not subject to precise planning.

The Grant Agreement and the contracts with FES and with ICITAP will be prepared by AID's Regional Legal Advisor and the AID Contracts Office inQuito.AID/Colombia will prepare any PIOs or other technical documents which may berequired. Given the scope of the Project and the involvement of various organizations as implementing agencies and benefiting entities, it will beparticularly important to assure that the governing agreements make clear theresponsibilities of the parties and the mechanisms which will govern the conduct of the Project.

B. Conditions Precedent, Covenants, and Policy Dialogue

1. Conditions Precedent

The only formal conditions precedent to disbursement to be included inthe Project Agreement with the GOC will be the provision of a legal opinion to AIDthat the Project Agreement has been properly executed and that its terms arevalid undertakings of the Government of Colombia and of any organizations whose

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representatives have signed it. The agreements to be entered between FES andthe other participating entities and between AID and FES may contain conditions precedent related to their terms, but such conditions have not yet been identified. They are likely to relate to implementation steps rather than policy

justice sector reform program being implemented

matters. They are not conduct of the Project.

likely to lead to delays or present problems to the

2. Covenants

The Project Agreement will state that the Project is in support of the by the GOC and that AID's

continued support for the Project will depend on the satisfactory implementationof the GOC's sector program. The Project Agreement with the GOC will contain general covenants to the effect that the GOC will provide the financial resourcesand take the measures called for in the Project Description, and will make goodfaith efforts to correct any implementation problems identified during the Project reviews and to implement the recommendations arising from the work beingperformed under the Project. In addition, the following specific covenants from the GOC will be included:

The GOC will appoint a multi-institutional Executive Committee to coordinate the GOC's participation in the Project, and will appoint a representative of the Office of the President as the Director of the Executive Committee;

The MOJ, Carrera Judicial, the Office of the Attorney General and the new Public Prosecutor's Office will appoint a multi­institutional sector planning committee; detail personnel toassist in its work; and provide funds for the positions to beestablished in the planning offices of their organizations;

The MOJ will prepare a multi-year justice sector plan by 1993 which will identify the objectives and priorities for the sector, the responsibilities of the various organizations of the sector, the resources necessary to meet these responsibilitiesand priorities; and which will provide a schedule of the majoractions which will be required to meet the objectives of the sector;

The MOJ will arrange for the remodeling of the sites to be used for the forensic laboratories to be equipped, and prepare a planfor carrying out a sector-wide coordinated forensic system;

Instrucci6n Criminal will appoint a Director for the pilotactivities re the improvement and coordination of criminal investigations, and detail personnel to those asactivities necessary;

Instrucci6n Criminal will submit a time-phased for the completion of the remodeling and equipping of the several offices of the Special Jurisdiction and a list (with its justification) of the needs for any additional security-related equipment or supplies;

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The MOJ will assure that all equipment provided for the protection of judicial personnel is used for the personnelindicated in the documentation approving the use of Project funds;

The participating entities will undertake to use their best efforts to assure that personnel trained with the assistance oF the Project are utilized for the purposes for which theyreceived the training;

The GOC will appoint a working group to plan for the creation and operation of a public prosecution function and office;

Carrera Judicial will appoint a person to be its liaison with the activities of the Project concerning the court system and the Judicial School;

The MOJ and Carrera Judicial will appoint an inter-agencyworking group to guide and coordinate the activities concerningthe providing of legal information to the sector organizations; and

The GOC will (.'oose a mechanism for preparing and an office to have the responsibility for implementing a plan for coordinating the work of the various training units of the sector organizations.

As in the case of conditions precedent, there also may be covenants inthe

Project, and the GOC's sector program which it supports, will

agreements between organizations.

AID and FES and between FES and other participating

3. Policy DialoQue

The main mechanism for conducting the policy dialogue concerning the be the quarterly

reviews of the implementation of the Project which are described in subpart D,below. Inaddition, on matters of major consequence the AID Representative will consult individually with the heads of the participating organizations, and the Ambassador may hold conversations with the Office of the President. Theinteragency coordinating committee established inthe U.S. Embassy will be used to assure that all USG agencies working in Colombia are supporting the same approach to items on the policy dialogue agenda.

The main topics for the policy dialogue agenda will change from time to time as circumstances and the stage of implementation of the Project vary. Thepolicy dialogue agenda during the early stage of implementation of the Projectwill include the following:

the level of budgetary resources which are to be provided to the government organizations participating in the Project;

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the steps necessary to achieve coordination of the investigationwork of the several police forces and their responsiveness to the direction of the new Public Prosecutors' Office;

the steps necessary to achieve coordination of (andconsolidation where called for) of the training programs and thetechnical resources (such as forensic laboratories) of the various entities involved in the investigation and prosecution of crimes;

the type of prosecutorial function to be created -- its location and powers; and

the interplay between the use of automation and the need for reformed procedures in the operation of the sector's organizations.

C. Implementation Arrangements and Timing

1. Responsibilities

a. AID Colombia

The overall implementation of the Project will be the responsibility ofthe AID Office in Columbia acting under the guidance of the U.S. Ambassador andthe Deputy Chief of Mission. In interagency committee has been formed within the U.S. Embassy in Colombia to assist in coordinating the various USGassistance programs to the Colombian justice sector. The AID Office also willreceive assistance from AID's regional contracts and controller offices and from the technical resources available to AID/W.

The AID Office in Colombia presently consists of the AID Representative, a U.S. Personnel Services Contractor (PSC), two Colombia direct hire persons (aprogram assistant and an accounting assistant) and four Colombian PSCs (a senior financial analyst, a financial analyst and two secretaries). In addition, asecond U.S. citizen direct hire position will be established in Colombia. Itsincumbent is expected to be in place by the last quarter of FY 1991. Threeadditional PSCs will be hired in FY 1991 to assist with the financial and program management as the overall portfolio expands. Two of these PSCs will beassigned to work on this Project. At least one will be a U.S. person withfamiliarity with the legal institutions and procedures of Colombia and anunderstanding of AID's administration of justice programs. The cost of theservices of the PSCs will be paid from the Project's budget.

b. The Project's Executive Committee and Staff

An Executive Committee will be established by the GOC to program andcoordinate the Project activities. The Executive Committee will be composed ofthe Minister of Justice, the President of the Superior Council of theAdministration of Justice, the Attorney General, the Director of Instrucci6n Criminal, the new Fiscal General and the Directors of the National Police and DAS. Although not members of the Executive Committee, representatives of AID

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and FES are likely to attend its meetings. The Executive Committee will act asthe central clearance mechanism for the GOC's requests to the USG for assistance related to the justice sector, and itwill set the GOC's priorities for the useof the limited USG funds available. Since the Ministry of Justice does notexercise control over all the various GOC ministries and entities which will beinvolved in the Project's implementation, overall direction and coordination must come from a higher authority. Therefore, the Executive Committee will bebased in the Office of the Presidency, and itwill be chaired by the President or a person named by the President to act for him in his absence.

The Executive Committee will be assisted by a Project-funded staff of two persons to help with the programming and coordination. The staff will work withthe Project funded staff of FES to develop annual work plans for the Project,and to revise the work plans as necessary. The work plans will provide thebasis for the quarterly reports to be prepared by FES and presented to AID forthe quarterly reviews to be carried out by FES and AID and for the mid-term andend-of-project evaluations. The work plans will be approved by AID through aProject Implementation Letter, and will form the basis for the quarterlyestimates of financial needs.

c. FES

FES will be the main implementation agent for the Project. It will beresponsible for the conduct of the activities described in Subpart IV.B.(1)(h)and (i)and (3)(h) and (i)above. It also will be the principal channel throuoh which Project funds are provided to the other entities participating in tieProject, and it will monitor and account for the use of the funds by those entities. FES itself will pertorm most of the procurement for the Colombian goods and services funded by the Project for those participating entities, andit will provide logistic and other support in Colombia for the non-Colombian persons and organizations which are used by the Project to provide services tothe participating entities. FES' agreements with the participating entities will be approved by AID/Colombia. The justification for the non-competitiveselection of FES is given inAnnex 6.

FES' responsibilities will be set forth inthe contract to be signed with AID/Colombia. They will be as follows:

FES will be the channel through which AID funds are provided to most activities being supported by the Project. The exceptionswill be funds provided to the USG organization, ICITAP, for its training and other activities in Colombia and for the procurement of certain goods and services from outside Colombia by AID or other USG agencies or their agents. FES will be responsible for accounting to AID for the use of the funds channeled through it or used directly by it.

FES will assist participating entities -- both public and private -- in preparing work plans for the implementation of activities included in the Project and proposals for new activities as appropriate. The Executive Committee will review any work plans or proposals from public and private entities,and AID will have final approval authority. All requests from

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Colombian public sector entities for the use of Project funds will be channeled through the Executive Committee.

FES will conduct yearly analyses of the progress being made on the overall justice sector program, based on the work plansprepared by the Executive Committee and the targets established by the Project. Itwill make recommendations concerning how the program may be better implemented or modified in order better to achieve its purpose. FES' analyses will be provided to both the GOC and to AID, and will be used by the GOC and AID to review the implementation of the Project and the GOC's sector program.

FES will be responsible for monitoring and reporting to AID on the Project's activities.

FES will be responsible for preparing public information concerning the conduct of the Project and the program which it supports and for providing that information to appropriate users.

d. ICITAP

ICITAP will be responsible for providing the technical assistance, theinstructors and the commodities required to carry out the responsibilitiesassigned to it under the Project (see subpart F, below). As with the otherparticipating organizations, ICITAP's responsibilities will be refined andmodified during the yearly work plan process to take account of the changedconditions facing the Project and the progress which has been made on theactivities already undertaken. Guidance for ICITAP's work will be provided bythe Project's Executive Committee and the Embassy's Interagency CoordinationCommittee acting through the Deputy Chief of Missions and his delegatedrepresentative.

2. In-Country Presence

Much of the work under the Project will be performed by Colombianorganizations and individuals contracted by FES. However, there also will be a significant input from external experts and advisors The approach toacquiring the services of these persons is discussed in subpart F below. Oneof the main issues facing the design of the Project was whether some of theseexternal expert and advisors would be full time and resident in Colombia. Theadvantages of such an approach would be to assure their availability on a timelybasis and to contribute to, and take advantage of, their accumulating experiencewith local conditions. The disadvantages are that with resident advisors theProject loses some flexibility in adjusting to changed conditions; that the costs of such advisors is high; that it may not be possible to get the bestpossible persons on a fulltime basis; and that resident advisors increase the security problems of the USG.

The areas in which there is a need for repeated external assistance arecrime investigation and police training, prosecutorial systems, courtadministration and training. Final decisions have not been reached concerning

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this issue. In part this reflects the fact that the priorities of the program may be affected by the results of the Constituent Assembly and the GOC's reactions to those results. Thus it is thought to be best to put off incurringthe expenses of identifying and transferring external advisors until those decisions are reached by the GOC. Inthe meantime the Project will use the more flexible approach of using short-term advisors. It will seek, to the extent possible, to use the same external advisors repeatedly to avoid the waste of time involved in new persons having to absorb information re the local conditions. The exception to this approach are the ICITAP activities with crime investigation and police training. Itwas decided that there should be a full­time professional resident in Colombia from the beginning in order both to accelerate the utilization of the current ICITAP and NAS pipelines and to assure that the activities of ICITAP are fully integrated into the work of the overall Project from the beginning.

3. TiminQ

The following table sets forth the target dates for key actions to be taken through December 1992 re the overall implementation of the Project. The annual work plans to be prepared by the Executive Committee will contain similar schedules.

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Key Actions

Project authorized by AID

Grant Agreement signed with the GOC CPs of the Grant Agreement met

Executive Committee's staff identified and in place

Contract with FES entered

Contract with ICITAP entered

Work plan for the balance of CY 1991 prepared and submitted to AID for review

FES' agreements with participating entities approved and signed

First Quarterly Review

FY 1992 funds obligated

Work plan for CY 1992 prepared and submitted to AID for review

Second Quarterly Review

Work Plan for 1992 approved

Third Quarterly Review

Fourth Quarterly Review

FES' analysis of first year's operation of GOC program completed

Interim external evaluation of the conduct of the Project Fifth Quarterly Review

GOC-AID Review of Experience of the First Year of the Sector Program and the Project

Work plan for 1993 submitted to AID

Target Dates

June 1991

July 1991

July 1991

July 1991

July 1991

July 1991

August 1991

September 1991

October 1991

December 1991

December 1991

January 1992

February 1992

April 1992

July 1992

August 1992

September 1992

October 1992

November 1992

November 1992

Annex 7 provides a list of target dates for key actions under the various component activities through December 1992. The dates are tentative. Duringthe preparation of the work plan for CY 1991 the list will be refined and modified to reflect the actions taken by the Constituent Assembly and decisions reached by the GOC thereafter.

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D. Monitoring and Reporting

FES will perform the financial reporting for the Project following the system established by AID under the current Grant. That system calls for the submission of reimbursement vouchers on a monthly basis detailing the expendi­ture of advances (see further under "Methods of Disbursement").

In addition to the financial reporting, FES will provide AID with quarterly progress reports covering the implementation of the Project. These reports will describe the activities carried out; compare the accomplishmentswith the planned actions contained in the work plans; discuss any problems or issues which have arisen in the implementation of the Project and the ways in which FES suggests to overcome them; and state the key activities planned for the next quarter. The reports will be completed within two weeks after the close of the reporting quarter. They will be the basis for quarterly projectreviews to be conducted jointly by AID and the Projact's Executive Committee. In entering cooperating agreements or contracts with other institutions, FES will include provision for those organizations to provide it with the information necessary for FES to comply with its reporting obligation to AID.

In addition to reviewing the financial and progress reporting, AID's Project Officer will follow the operation of the Project by visiting the Project's activities in person and attending selected meetings of the Executive Committee. The Project Officer will prepare a quarterly report on the state of implementation based on those direct contacts, FES' reports and the outcome of the quarterly reviews.

E. Audits and Evaluations

1. Audits and Financial Services

As under the current AID Grant to FES, there will be annual audits of FES' handling of the AID funds. Under this Project those annual audits will be expanded to include the use of AID funds by all the Colombian organizationsparticipating in the Project. Using Project funds AID will contract with an independent Colombian auditing firm to do the work. The scopes of work for the audit will be approved by AID's regional auditing staff. Reports of the audits will be provided to both AID and the Executive Committee of the Project.

Audits of the use of the Project's funds directly by AID and by non-Colombian entities involved in the Project will be carried out by the staff of AID's regional Controller's Office using Project funds. Audits of ICITAP's activities will be performed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

2. Evaluations

The Quarterly Reviews of the Project be conducted by the GOCto and AID/Colombia and the yearly work plan process will be used to assess the progress being made under the Project and the problems facing the Project. Theywill be both a monitoring and an evaluation mechanism. Indeed, yearlypreparation and discussion of the work plans is likely to be used for

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redesigning the activities to meet the changing circumstances. In addition,during its life the Project will fund three evaluations by persons ororganizations external to the Project -- the first in the third quarter of CY 1992, the second in the second quarter of CY 1994 and the last duringJune 1995. The evaluations will be conducted under contracts entered directlyby AID.

The primary purpose of the first external evaluation will be to assess theadequacy of the implementation arrangements followed during the first year of the Project and to determine what, if any, modifications should be introduced into the design of the Project because of decisions made either by the Constituent Assembly or the GOC in interpreting and carrying out its sector reforms. The primary purpose of the second external evaluation will be todetermine the extent to which the Project is likely to achieve its purpose and to propose those changes in design and implementation which may be needed toenable the Project better to achieve its objectives. The third, and final,externai evaluation will assess the probable impact on the operation of thejustice system which is likely to result from the Project; identify the lessons learned from the Project; and determine whether follow-on assistance from AID will be necessary.

Since the Project is linked to the GOC's sector program the evaluationswill have to take into account the progress being made on the overall sector program as well. They will utilize the types of progress indicators described in subpart IV.A and in the various component descriptions in subpart IV.B. Thequantification of the targets will be provided through the work to be conducted by FES prior to the preparation of the work plan for 1992. That work will be financed by the Project under the line item for Evaluations.

F. Procurement Plan

1. In-Country Procurement

FES will perform the procurement of most goods and services in Colombia that are needed by the activities being support by the Project -- both thosebeing carried out by the government and those by private entities. FES may alsobe requested to procure some goods and services from outside Colombia. In implementing the Project, FES will follow AID procurement standards andprocedures, as will all entities to which FES provides funds for the Project'simplementation. FES will seek the participation in the Project of a variety of persons and institutions. Competitive selection will be the norm followed.

ICITAP Activities

The services of ICITAP to the Project will be procured pursuant atowritten agreement to be negotiated between ICITAP and the AID Regional Contracts Office in Quito. The formal transfers of funds to ICITAP will take place inWashington pursuant to allocation agreements incorporating the terms of the agreement. Under that agreement ICITAP will supply the services of its in­country personnel, its Washington-based support, consultants and technical advisors and modest amounts of equipment needed in the conduct of the activities.

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2. External Procurement

The major issue facing the procurement plan of the Project is how to procure the goods and services (apart from those provided through ICITAP) fromoutside Colombia which are to be financed by the Project. These will include technical assistance; specialized equipment; study and observation trips to, andtraining activities in,the U .S., European and Latin American destinations; and the organization and support of those activities. There are several possibleapproaches. One would be to use FES as the procurement agent; one would be to use direct procurement by AID and other USG agencies; one would be to use aninstitutional arrangement with an external organization to provide all the services and goods needed or with several such organizations to provide theservices and goods needed in particular areas (e.g., prosecution, court administration, computer utilization, training); one be to mixwould theapproaches as ismost suitable to the contents of the yearly work plans. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach.

Re the Use of FES. The advantages of using FES are that it is intimately familiar with the program being supported by the Project, and will be largely responsible for the preparation of the work plans under which the Project will be conducted. Furthermore, it has a sizeable staff which is being funded bythe Project and which could be used in the procurement effort. The disadvantages are that FES is not very familiar with the resources available abroad, and isnot organized to identify and use them. It has no staff or established relationship with external entities which could be used for this purpose.

Re the Use of Direct Procurement by AID and Other USG Agencies.The advantages of this approach are that AID would retain close control over the timing ad the terms of the procurement, and that it could call on both LAC/DI and RAJO in Costa Rica for advice and assistance in identifying the sources of technical advisors and use the overall procurement system of AID for the actual contracting. Furthermore, both NAS and USIS have standing arrangements with organizations inthe U.S. to performprocurement for them. The disadvantages are that neither the AID Office in Colombia nor the other AID offices may have the time to seek out the best persons to use or the best sources of commodities and training assistance; that having to use formal competitive procedures for individual procurement actions would be very time consuming; and that even without using formal competitive procedures the administrative burden on the AID Office inpreparing the PIOs and other procurement documentation will be great. (It is estimated that the Project will finance at least 225 person months of external technical assistance apart from the ICITAP activities, observation study trips and training abroad for some 60 persons, and $8.7 million worth of imported equipment.)

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Re the Use of an External Orqanization as Institutional Support.The main advantage of using an external organization to performthe procurement of the external goods and services is that it would relieve the AID Office and FES of a substantial burden of identifying and contracting for the external inputs as they are needed since the terms for the actions would be set in the overall contract between AID and the organization. That contract could either be one entered by AID especially for the support of the Project or existing AID contracts which might be used to provide the necessary services. The disadvantages of this approach are that the services of such an organization will add to the cost of the Project; that one organization may not have all the contacts and information required to meet the responsibilities and that having to enter multiple contracts could prove both time consuming for AID and create problems of coordination among those contractors and between them and FES.

Re the Use of a Mixed Approach. The advantage of the mixed approach isthat itwould give the maximum of flexibility. The disadvantages are that itwould add to the burden of operationalplanning for the Project during the work plan process and would lose the advantage of relieving FES and the AID Office of the burden of all external procurement.

The Project's design chooses the mixed approach. Itwill use the existingarrangements of NAS, USIS and AID/W; contract directly for PSC services; and enter standing agreements to obtain ongoing technical assistance and support for external training. Depending on the initial experience under the Project, it may be decided to contract the services of one contractor to provide all the external inputs. The organization to be contracted would provide goods and service on request. Itwould be identified and chosen through the competitiveprocedures of AID. During the yearly work plan process the responsibility for the several external procurement actions will be determined so that forwaru planning will be possible.

G. Methods of Disbursement

AID/Colombia will have responsibility for some of the foreign exchangecosts under the Project, including the procurement of some commodities and technical services. These foreign exchange costs will be disbursed by AID/W and charged to the Project through an advice of charge (AOC).

Procedures for the disbursement of local currency funds to FES will be outlined in the initial Project Implementation Letter. Funds will be provided on an advance basis, based upon monthly approved cash flow projections coveringbasic cash needs as set forth in the Quarterly Estimates of Financial Needs. The advances will be liquidated by monthly submission of vouchers by FES which in turn, will make monthly advances to the entities implementing the Project'sactivities based upon each entities' basic cash needs for the next thirty days'operation. The organizations will submit monthly reports of expenditures to FES

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to clear their advances, and FES will consolidate these submissions into itsmonthly report to AID.

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