Considered the growing problem of drug trafficking, organized crime and the violation of human rights that gripping the country, the Philippines Department of Justice has decided to implement a plan to promote justice, especially for disadvantaged and poor communities, and to increase awareness that the nation intends to put an end to these problems with determination. The programme builds upon two prior EU-funded programmes, namely the “Access to Justice for the Poor Programme” (2006-2008) and the “EU Philippines Justice Support Programme” (2009-2011) addressing extra-legal killings (ELKs) and enforced disappearances (EDs).

The EPJUST II programme is the continuation and expansion of the EU assistance to the Philippines to help achieve equitable access to an efficient justice system for all Filipinos. For this reason, a consortium was created, and Human Dynamics (a company that carries out projects of economic development, institutional and projects in public administrations) which has become the leader of the consortium, born with the aim of helping the country to solve these problems, in particular focusing on access to justice for children, women, minorities, social activists and other vulnerable groups.

Involving all major stakeholders of the justice system, the programme addresses 7 out of the 9 general priorities of the 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan to strengthen the Rule of Law:

• Strengthen the Oversight Bodies of the Justice System
• Effective and Speedy Resolution of Cases in Courts and Quasi- Judicial Bodies
• Reduce the cost of litigation
• Increase Resources for Justice Sector Agencies and Quasi-Judicial Bodies
• Improve Access to Justice of all Sectors of Society particularly by the vulnerable groups
• Promote the Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Institutionalize Existing Justice Sector Coordinating Mechanisms

Coordinated by the Department of Interior and Local Government, the programme includes the Supreme Court, the Commission on Human Rights, the Department of Justice and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, the Philippine Commission on Women, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, as well as Civil Society Organizations.

The project has been divided into several programs, each of which provides for various interventions to support the judicial system, to improve its tools and services. To improve access to the civil and criminal justice system, information centres have been set up in local administrations to allow greater access by local communities to legal information on their legal rights and remedies. A centralized system has been created for the provision of legal services at no cost and extensive use of paralegals to improve legal assistance. Several training courses have been planned for law enforcement agencies on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (ADR) and the expansion of related services (mediation, conciliation, etc.); on the improvement of investigative procedures, management of targeted and faster procedures. In addition, the capacity of the criminal justice system to deal with extrajudicial killings (EJK) and forced disappearances (ED) was also implemented, also structuring more efficient and better coordinated witness protection plans, to obtain greater availability and reliability from witnesses.

Here we at Q&T have intervened, supply an innovative CMS system.This system allows to improve the case management system through the improvement of the data storage structure, allowing a safe and fast migration from the existing system and the implementation of the present systems. Along with the CMS system and its devices we have provided support services, maintenance and personnel training on the correct use of the system to guarantee the result.

Our intervention served to improve access to the database of the civil and criminal justice system and to make the procedural and judicial system more efficient and rapid.

Being protagonists of this type of projects allows us to realize what has been our mission for 30 years: to realize projects of value all over the world that improve the quality of life of the people who use them.

Q&T: “We design a better future“