reportno.ab4500.docVIP

Report No. AB4500 PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Project Name JUSTICE SERVICES STRENGTHENING PROJECT Region LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN Sector Law and Justice (50%) General Public Administration (50% Project ID P083904 Borrower(s) REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA Implementing Agency Judiciary (Rama Judicial) - Superior Judicial Council (Consejo Superior de la Judicatura – CSJ) Environment Category [ ] A [ ] B [X] C [ ] FI [] TBD (to be determined) PID Update July 28, 2009 Date of Appraisal Authorization May 25, 2009 Date of Board Approval October 7, 2009 Key Development Issues and Rationale for Bank Involvement A. Key development issues The justice sector and governance in Colombia. The Colombian Government believes that effective management of economic crises and ensuring security for its citizens alone do not provide sufficient grounds for achieving firm conditions of lasting peace and economic stability. One of Colombia’s main challenges at this juncture is to consolidate recent gains and to overcome the institutional weaknesses of the justice sector that facilitated the growth in illegal activities in the past. The Vision Colombia Bicentennial 2019 Document, the National Development Plan 2006-2010, and the Judiciary Strategic Plan intend to consolidate a model of democratic governance, around the goal of bringing “effective justice services closer to citizens”. Actions are aimed at strengthening the justice sector’s ability to serve as a guardian of the Rule of Law, capable of securing the constitutional right of universal access to prompt justice, and of providing the peaceful settlement of major conflicts. The 1991 Constitution and the justice sector. The 1991 Constitution effected far-reaching changes to raise the justice sector’s performance and quality. New rights and more effective methods for accessing them were established. Provisions were made to accelerate a transition to an accusatorial system of criminal just