|
Second Component "Improving Court Attitudes towards the Poor and Socially Vulnerable Groups"
The component is implemented under supervision of L.O. Ivanov (PhD)and E.K. Glushko (PhD)
1. Monitoring the Court Hearings of the Justices of Peace with Participation of the Poor Litigants
 Truly accessible justice is a mixture of elements, with an important factor being the courts’ attitude to the participants at all stages. This aspect demands particular urgency in relation to the poor and vulnerable, who are trying to defend their rights in the civil proceedings, where the majority of the disputes are resolved.
The judges of the courts of general jurisdiction, including the Justices of Peaces, largely recognize that the poor and vulnerable merit special treatment. At the same time the judiciary (due to a number of possible explanations) do not fully use the available tools to ensure a differentiated treatment of such people (for instance, at the preparatory stages, during the explanation of the court’s decision, and others). Such inability covers a relatively high percentage of the litigants who mistrust the courts.
The main goal of the component is to evaluate the overhaul implementation of the fair trial and impartiality guarantees through the means of monitoring. In order to accumulate information about the court hearings with participation of the poor, explore how fairness and impartiality are implemented, and how the court procedures match expectations of the poor litigants a monitoring of the court hearings of the Justices of Ppeace in two participating regions (Leningrad and Perm) was done.
Preparation for the monitoring
Conducting the monitoring
Press conference
Publication about the monitoring results
Discussion of results
2. Monitoring Efficiency of the Legal Aid Centres
 The first component of the Project established networks of legal aid centres in two regions. Each network consists of ten legal aid centres. In the final stage of the Project implementation another monitoring is envisaged – monitoring of efficiency of legal aid centres. This monitoring targets exploration how the legal advice received in the legal aid centres has assisted clients in defending their rights. This monitoring will contribute to practical assessment of two different legal aid models, tested in the regions (legal aid delivered by lawyers and attorneys) by identifying their strong and weak sides.
Starting from January, 2011 a two-fold study of the legal aid centres will be conducted. The first part focuses on conducting a poll among the clients, who have received legal aid. Another component of the study is a survey of the Justices of Peace, who considered the cases with participation of the applicants received legal aid in the centres.
As a result of monitoring a manual will be elaborated “Evaluating Efficiency of Legal Aid Centres”. This manual will contain the main conclusions on efficiency of legal aid centres and a detailed description of employed sociological tools.
Training “Methodology, Rules, and Conduct of the Monitoring of Legal Aid Centers Efficiency”
Back
|
Events:
Round Table on Court Monitoring (Yaroslavl, 1-2 July, 2011)
Round Table " Improving Access to Justice for the Population of the Leningrad Region" (St. Petersburg, 30 June, 2011)
Round Table " Measuring Efficiency of the Courts and Access to Justice" (Rostov-on-Don, 20 May, 2011 and Nizhniy Novgorod, 10 June, 2011)
Discussion of Court Monitoring Procedures and Results (Moscow, 13 May, 2011 and 26 May, 2011)
Convocation of Project "Access to Justice" Coordination Board (Moscow, 23 May, 2011)
Training " Right to a Fair Trial: Standards of the European Court of Human Rights and Monitoring their Observation" (St. Petersburg, 25 February, 2011 and Perm, 2 March, 2011)
Press conference on the monitoring (St. Petersburg, 12 October, 2010)
Supervision Mission of the World Bank (Moscow, 27 September, 2010)
Seminar with the Magistrate Judges on the Monitoring Results (St. Petersburg and Perm, 26 and 30 August, 2010)
Convocation of the Working Group of Coordination Board Project "Access to Justice" (Moscow, 1 July, 2010)
Second training session for the court observers in Perm (Perm, 15 March, 2010)
Training session of the Courts of Peace Observers (Perm, 3-4 March, 2010)
Focus group with the Justice of Peace (Perm, 25 February, 2010)
Second training of the court observers (St. Petersburg, 21 December, 2009)
Training of the court observers (St. Petersburg, 8-9 December, 2009)
Focus group with Justices of Peace of Leningrad region (St. Petersburg, 6 November, 2009)
Press Conference on Monitoring (St. Petersburg, 6 November, 2009)
|