EUROsociAL+ accompanies the Costa Rican Judicial Power and the National Commission for the Improvement of the Justice Administration in implementing this policy, which is based on the principles of transparency, participation and collaboration
Through the EUROsociAL+ Programme, the European Union is accompanying the Judicial Power of Costa Rica and the National Commission for the Improvement of the Justice Administration (CONAMAJ) in the process of progressively implementing the Open Justice Policy so that the State power can provide judicial management and services based on the principles of transparency, participation and collaboration.
Several activities have been carried out to this end in 2018. Initially, in order to learn about good practices and experiences in open justice, an exchange visit was made by a delegation of the Judicial Power from Costa Rica to Argentina. Specialised advice was subsequently given in Costa Rica by the international expert Sandra Elena, the head of the Open Justice Programme of the Ministry of Justice of Argentina, for the design of the Action Plan for the Open Justice Policy. A first draft of the Action Plan was prepared as a result of this first contact, a document that has been now been completed and submitted to the Judicial Power.
The Action Plan construction process was highly participatory, since the authorities of the justice sector institutions participated in it through: the creation of the Open Justice Commission, the National Commission for the Improvement of the Justice Administration (CONAMAJ); judicial officials of the Directorate of Information Technology, Directorate of Human Management, Department of Press and Organisational Communication, Judicial Investigation Body, General Prosecutor’s Office, Public Defence, Restorative Justice Programme, Gender Technical Secretariat, Transparency Commission, Centre for Support, Coordination and Improvement of the Jurisdictional Function. Representatives of civil society organisations such as Territorios Seguros, the University of Costa Rica, and the Professionals for Citizenship and Open Data Group also participated in the process through a round table of dialogue with key players of civil society.
The EUROsociAL expert, Sandra Elena, highlighted some elements that characterise the open justice plan, including integrality through the articulation and synergies between the different proposals and players of the plan. The second highlighted aspect is co-creation, fostering a collaborative partnership with representatives of civil society in each action of open justice, constant communication and permanent work in each stage of the projects and actions.
The ultimate aim of this action is to strengthen the capacities of the Judicial Power of Costa Rica so that it can improve access and quality in the rendering of services of the administration of justice, in order to achieve a more open and inclusive justice, bringing in participative, transparent and collaborative processes and strengthening the judicial institutions and the democratic system.
This action is carried out from the Democratic Governance area of the EUROsociAL+ Programme coordinated by the FIIAPP.
Área de políticas de gobernanza democrática. Democratic governance area / FIIAPP – EUROsociAL+
