Areas of Coverage:

110 Municipalities.

Implementation Unit:

Inter-American program of Judicial Facilitators/GS/ OAS/ Nicaragua.

For further details about this program, please contact:

Pedro Vuskovic
Coordinator of the Inter-American Program
of Judicial Facilitators
Secretariat for Legal Affairs (SLA)
Organization of American States
Corner of 19th and Constitution Avenue NW 20006
Washington DC, USA
www.oeapifj.org
Pvuskovic@oas.org

Local Coordination:

Supreme Court of Justice
Office of attention to the facilitator (RJF)
110 Local Courts
1,167 Judicial Facilitators

History

At the beginning of the year 2000, the characteristics found in certain rural areas in Nicaragua (in particular in the Central, North and Atlantic regions) included: high levels of isolation, despair, lack of state presence, high levels of violence, and corruption. Overall, these problems were a constant threat to the social and political stability of the country, mostly because of extreme poverty levels.

Based on this reality, the Supreme Court of Nicaragua and the Organization of American States (OAS) gathered to discuss the establishment of an institution to reinforce the access of justice, reinforce prevention mechanisms, create alternate solutions to ongoing conflicts, promote and support social balance, as well as the peaceful coexistence of people living in these areas. Consequently, they signed the final agreement on March 2007 launching the program of “Rural Judicial Facilitators.”

Legal Base

The RJF’s legal base is established on chapter VI of the Facilitator’s Regulations, in accordance with the Procedural Criminal Code (article 57 / II paragraph) published on December 21, 2001 in the 243rd issue of the “The Gazette” (Republic’s official newspaper). Which states that, “It is the Supreme Court’s duty to organize the proper functioning of the Judicial Facilitators in rural areas.” Additionally, in accordance with the 423rd article of the same body of law, (which consequently reforms law 260 / article 169), published on July 23, 1998 on the 137th issue of The Gazette, “The Rural Judicial Facilitators are an auxiliary force with the objective to implement the proper administration of justice."

Pre-Requisites to Become a Judicial Rural Facilitator

Must be 18 or older

Must be able to read and write

Must be a leader recognized in his/her community

Must live in the community that proposes him/her

Must have No Criminal Records

Must not be member of any political party

Must not be active duty military (Should resign at least twelve months before)

Must have knowledge of the Judicial Power and other Organizations matters

Must be listed in the Local Judge’s act and Municipality as a single residence owner.

Roles of a Judicial Rural Facilitator

To assist people in a certain community in judicial matters as well as in administrative matters.

To increase judicial knowledge, acquired thru training with the Courts and
other organizations, in a certain community.

To carry out extrajudicial mediations in cases in which the law allows it.

To pursuit and control extrajudicial mediations performed.

To sustain communication and interaction with local officials and people who are part of the administration of justice service.

To support judges in implementing new activities, and in the proper function and improvement of the administration and access of Justice.

To complete previous mediations listed in article 57 of the Procedural Criminal Code.

Activities

The National Service of Justice is a powerful mechanism molded with the help of civil participation, whose objective is to improve the access and prevention of justice. Figures A-1 and A-2 show some of the collected data

As an Access Mechanism, the facilitators have allowed more than 15,000 cases to be attended by local judges; as well as they have assisted to solve more than 4,000 cases.

As a Prevention Mechanism, the facilitators have provided guidance in approximately 15,000 cases; as well as helping over 8,000 citizens by guiding them during negotiations.

Furthermore, they have solved approximately 18,000 mediation and judicial cases by means of submissive methods; as well as working with 110 Indigenous (Wihta) Judges in the autonomous North and South provinces resulting on the coalition between government and indigenous rights to cope in peace.

Nevertheless, we should mention the important role women play in the accomplished achievements. Even though women only represent 22 % of the group, the cases solved by female facilitators is equivalent to 60 %. Recently, a female facilitator was nominated for the Nobel Price of Peace (with the initiative of 1,000 women for the peace) in recognition of her arduous work and accomplishments.

In the past four years, the facilitators became part of 110 municipalities in Nicaragua, thanks to the contributions made by 53 local governments for the operation of the program, totaling over half a million Cordobas¹ this year). In 2007, the voluntary work provided by the Facilitators is estimated to be over 3.5 million Cordobas. In addition, The Judicial Power will contribute with 1.5 million Cordobas to support the RJF’s services in numerous communities.

Ultimately, the Judicial Power will reach over 1.5 million Cordobas thanks to the reliability and competence of the services provided by the Judicial Facilitators. Overall, the contributions made to this program by the RJF, have dramatically help the improvement of duties performed by local magistrates, judges, administrative delegates, and clerical staff among others.

[1] Cordoba= Nicaraguan Currency