Pacific Judicial Development Programme
In July last year, the Government of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) launched the second phase of the Pacific Judicial Development Programme (PJDP). PJDP Phase 2 is designed to build on the achievements of the Programme’s first phase and the earlier Pacific Judicial Education Program by supporting 14 Pacific Island Countries to enhance the professional competence of judicial and court officers, along with the processes and systems they use.
PJDP currently operates in: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Launch of Phase 2
MFAT currently supports PJDP, with the Federal Court of Australia being selected as the sole Managing Services Contractor until June 2012. The Programme is overseen by a governing body, known as the Programme Executive Committee.
As part of a regional consultation and re-engagement process, Chief Justice Sapolu (Samoa), Chief Justice Lunabek (Vanuatu) and Chief Justice Ngiraklsong (Palau) launched Phase 2 of the Programme in each PJDP sub-region.
Vision for Phase 2
The vision for this Phase is to consolidate and extend the delivery of the highest quality practical judicial training and court development services, while significantly enhancing the institutionalisation, localisation and sustainability of those services for stakeholders across the region. The purpose of Phase 2 is to continue to support participating countries to enhance the professional competence of judicial officers and court officers, and the processes and systems that they use. Continuing from Phase 1, the focus of Phase 2 extends beyond meeting the educational needs of judicial officers (both law trained and non-law trained) and court officers to include support for process and system improvement.
This phase will consolidate the four thematic pillars identified in Phase 1 to guide implementation, namely: promote access to justice; strengthen governance and the rule of law; improve judicial systems and processes; support judicial training and development. To promote continuity between these phases, these pillars are used as the framework within which activities are structured in the implementation period: 1 January 2011-30 June 2012.
