ARTICLE - ONLY 3 PROFESSIONAL CLERKS IN HAITI

HAITI - JUSTICE: ONLY 3 PROFESSIONAL CLERKS IN HAITI
(Haiti Libre) -

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a continuous training project for the Clerks of the Peace Courts and Tribunals of First Instance in Haiti to strengthen and streamline the the administrative process, in support to the public service of Justice. This is the first phase of a project implemented jointly by UNDP and the Justice Section of Minustah, originally programmed over one year. Specific training for clerks working in the Peace courts and for the clerks of First Instance since the responsibilities and duties of clerks of First Instance and of Peace are not identical.

"We are aware of the shortcomings of the judicial system, we try together, with UNDP, to provide an adequate response to the problems identified in order to improve the services to the population", has declared a Haitian official at the official launch of the project.

This program of continuous training of the Clerks intends to fill a significant gap, since the number of professional clerks in Haiti is estimated to be 3. That means, a clerk who has completed the cycle of law school, (BACC +4).

This continuous training is essential for the proper functioning of the courts and tribunals where the clerk performs many and varied tasks which depends on the smooth flow of the penal system at the level of record and as a part of the administration of the Tribunal.

"The clerk is undoubtedly one of of the bodies that contributes most to the speed of the judicial system or its slowness", has recalled Brice Buissière, Technical Advisor to the Project. During this first phase, nearly 650 Haitian clerks will participate in the training sessions during which several themes will be addressed: the joint attributions to the clerks of the Courts of First Instance, of Courts of peace and Prosecutors, their role and their central role in the judicial system, the main principles of management and of organization of records and the use of folders of judicial information.