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Accès à la justice

«Access to justice » Component

Objective

  • To get justice close to the citizen through an improved functioning of the judicial system.
  • To promote recourse to arbitration;
  • To facilitate business registration through the strengthening of the business registration center;
  • To restore citizens' and businessmen's confidence in the judiciary.

Cost

US$ 34,270 millions

Duration

Five (5) years

Beneficiaries

  • Benin nationals;
  • Businessmen;
  • Magistrates and judicial staffs.

Anticipated results

  • Reduced duration of the processing of cases accessing the courts;
  • Improved recourse to the method of alternative dispute resolution (ADR);
  • Reduction in the business registration delay;
  • Rapprochement of the judiciary to the citizen;
  • Increased number of inspections in the courts;
  • Improved training quality for magistrates and judicial staffs;
  • Improved ownership of the harmonized OHADA law by the law professionals and businessmen.

Main activities :

Component 1 : Support for the launching of the activities of the Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation Center located within the Benin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAMeC - CCIB).

Component 2 : Improvement of the performances of the business registration center (CFE) located within CCIB.

Component 3 : Improvement of the functioning of the judicial system.

Detail of activities

Component 1 :

  • Institutional support (training of arbitrators, mediators, conciliators, development of operational procedures);
  • Strengthening of CAMeC's equipments and materials (data processing equipment, office equipment, logistic and transport equipments).
  • Capacity building of the staff

Component 2:

  • conduct an evaluation of the performances of the central CFE and its satellites;
  • introduce new activities in CFE, particularly a system for registration under the new Investment code;
  • interconnect the central CFE office and its satellites in order to develop a unique database on the life of enterprises in Benin;
  • interconnect the CFE with the administrations involved in the mechanism of business creation;
  • establish new satellites of CFE in Natitingou and Lokossa;
  • train the CFE staffs.

Component 3 :

Axis 1 : Strengthening the organization and operation of the courthouses

  • Construction and equipping of the court of appeal in Abomey;
  • Construction and equipping of eight (8) courts of first instance in accordance with the law N°2001-37 of August 27, 2002 relating to the judicial organization;
  • Development of an initial training curriculum on OHADA uniform acts;
  • Recruitment and support to initial training for new magistrates;
  • Implementation of the tree-year training plan of the Ministry of justice ;

Axis 2 Capacity building of Inspection Générale des services de la justice (IGSJ).

  • Capacity building in human resources (specialized training for inspectors and reviewers);
  • Provision of material (furniture, data processing material).

Axis 3 : Access to legal and judicial information

  • Construction and equipping of a Legal and Judicial Information Center;
  • Establishment of a documentary fund within the center;
  • Subscription and documentation online;
  • Design and distribution of juridical briefcases to the magistrates.

Axis 4 : Sensitization, information, and education of the population on the justice reform

  • Organization of open days for the businessmen in the big urban centers on the judicial system and for justice professionals (magistrates, lawyers, notaries, ushers, auctioneers, etc,);
  • Design of OHADA kits to be put at the disposal of MJCRI and CAMeC-CCIB

Axis 5 : Computerization of the TPIs, court of appeal of Abomey and Legal Documentation Center

  • Creation of an intranet network within the courts
  • Networking the courts with the Ministry and the documentation center.

Axis 6 : Establishment of a support fund for the access of the poor and the unprivileged to judicial services.

Axis 7 : Rationalization of the methods used for handling cases in the courts.

Required Reforms

  • Adoption of a text regulating the referral of disputes accessing the courts of fist instance (TPI) to the arbitration, mediation and conciliation center;
  • Passing of the following codes by the National Assembly:
  • Penal Code;
  • Penal procedure code;
  • Code of civil, commercial, social and administrative procedure;
  • Rural land tenure code.