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FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5419
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1429
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1252
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1140

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PORT AU PRINCE 000370 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KJUS KDEM KCRM SNAR HA
SUBJECT: STATUS OF JUSTICE REFORM 
 
REF: A. 06 PORT AU PRINCE 2453 
     ¶B. PORT AU PRINCE 23 
 
PORT AU PR 00000370  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary:  The justice sector in Haiti is in dire 
need of reform.  Despite ongoing efforts by the international 
community, no single part of the apparatus functions 
properly, from arrest to trial.  Having consulted 
international donors, Justice Minister Magloire is set to 
present new legislation to parliament to establish a judicial 
council to oversee the judiciary, define the role of 
magistrates ("magistrates" refers to investigators and 
district court judges), and re-open the school of 
magistrates.  The judicial council would include a Judicial 
Inspection Unit (JIU) to conduct vetting ("certification") of 
the magistrates.  Minister Magloire has also drafted an 
action plan that includes the establishment of specialized 
courts to handle cases of organized crime and gang-related 
violence.  Among the most pressing needs for the justice 
system, experts identify better pay for the magistrates, 
additional penitentiaries, record keeping, refurbishment of 
courthouses, and increased mid-level capacity at the justice 
ministry to ensure continuity.  Haiti's provinces especially 
suffer from a lack of capacity in the justice system.  The 
draft laws and the justice minister's action plan are the 
GoH's first official attempts to implement justice reform. 
Many Haitian and international justice specialists wonder, 
however, whether the GoH and the justice minister 
specifically have the capacity and political will to 
implement lasting reforms.  End Summary. 
 
Three New Laws for Parliament 
---------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Justice Minister Magloire drafted three new laws on 
justice reform which the executive will present to parliament 
as part of its "legislative menu" now that Carnival is over. 
The most ambitious of the three would establish a judicial 
council to oversee the magistrates, as well as protect their 
job security.  The council would comprise four members of the 
supreme court and three members of the civil society, 
appointed by various elements of the judicial system.  The 
interim government under former Justice Minister Henri 
Dorleans had issued a decree creating a judicial council, but 
Minister Magloire abolished the decree because it transferred 
authority for many administrative and financial powers from 
the ministry to the courts.  According to Philippe Lamarche, 
country director of the National Council of State Courts 
(NCSC -- USAID's implementing partner for judicial reform), 
Minister Magloire opposes the truly independent judiciary 
called for in Haiti's 1987 constitution (known here as the 
Latin American system) because of his experience in Canada, 
where many judicial powers remain within the ministry. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) MINUSTAH justice section officer Jean Luc Marx told 
Poloff that the budget was a particular point of contention 
during the drafting of this law.  Following a round-table 
discussion with international experts in September 2006, the 
Minister opted to give each of the five district appeals 
courts responsibility for financial management, but retained 
oversight by the finance ministry (effectively maintaining 
executive oversight of the judicial branch).  According to 
former magistrate and justice program manager at USAID, 
Gerard Fontain, this law might not pass if members of 
parliament solicit input from the civil society, who oppose 
the law because it does not create a truly independent 
judiciary.  MINUSTAH officers stressed the importance of 
passing this law in conjunction with the other two, and said 
that despite its flaws, this law would help move justice 
reform forward. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The judicial council would oversee the Judicial 
Inspection Unit (JIU), charged with "certification," (UN 
parlance for vetting), of the magistrates.  MINUSTAH's 
justice section director, Denis Racicot, told Poloff that in 
1994 when the international community first attempted justice 
reform, sitting magistrates protested the efforts as soon as 
reform changes (i.e. opening the school and replacing the 
 
PORT AU PR 00000370  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
most-corrupt magistrates) started to take place.  In order to 
avoid a similar backlash, the new law proposes a "holistic 
approach" including evaluation of the magistrates' 
professional lives, collection of information on allegations 
of corruption, and job security for certified magistrates. 
The justice minister has expressed his support for 
certification, but told MINUSTAH officers that he does not 
have the backing of his staff. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The other two laws define the qualifications and 
requirements for magistrates and the re-opening of a public 
school for their training.  Lamarche pointed out that the 
school (known by its French acronym, EMA) has not operated 
since 2003, but that NCSC and others have held workshops for 
magistrates under the school's name.  Though these two laws 
are less controversial than the law establishing the judicial 
council, critics in the Haitian legal community complain that 
the drafts reflect too much foreign influence.  NCSC and 
other organizations have held working-group sessions with 
members of parliament to explain and encourage backing of all 
three complimentary laws. 
 
The Minister's Action Plan 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7.  (SBU) After abolishing the interim government's judicial 
decree, Minister Magloire presented his action plan for 
justice reform to the GoH.  The action plan proposes to 
divide the West Department into smaller divisions to 
eliminate the bottlenecked caseload in Port-au-Prince.  (Like 
most institutions, the justice system has not adjusted to the 
population growth in Port-au-Prince over the past decade.) 
The minister's plan would increase the number of justices of 
the peace country-wide and set up an ad-hoc working group to 
discuss the budget and administration of the new justice 
system.  The plan calls for pre-trial detention committees to 
limit delays for suspects awaiting trials, emphasizes 
training, and would establish specialized magistrates and 
prosecutors who work alongside specialized units of police 
officers for crimes like kidnapping and organized crime. 
MINUSTAH officials Marx and Racicot pointed out that the 
action plan is a good start and that the government needs to 
institute immediate reforms.  In a separate meeting, Fontain 
said the action plan is very ambitious and that with the 
justice ministry's minuscule budget -- and no mid-level 
employees at the ministry to ensure continuity of the plan 
should the minister be replaced -- few of the reforms will be 
realized. 
 
New Ideas: Specialized vs. Transnational Court 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8.  (U) Justice sector contributors have heralded the idea of 
specialized courts to deal with Haiti's most pressing and 
serious crimes such as organized crime, corruption, drug 
dealing, kidnapping, and gang-related violence and rape.  One 
current judge told Fontain that the conflict over the future 
of one of Haiti's failed banks, Socabank (to be reported 
septel), could never be disputed in court because of a lack 
of expertise amongst Haiti's judges.  Reportedly, the idea 
has support from civil society and Haiti's top judges and 
prosecutors, but at this point the idea is in its nascent 
stages, and far from becoming a reality. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  The Haitian press has reported on the concept of a 
hybrid, transnational court made up of Haitian and 
international elements, as proposed in the latest report by 
the International Crisis Group (ICG).  Lamarche pointed out 
to Poloff that although the idea was relatively well-received 
by both the president of the judges association and the head 
of the supreme court in Haiti, a hybrid court would be a 
tough sell to other elements of Haitian society. 
Additionally, this hybrid court would require millions of 
dollars in investigations, equipment, operational fees, 
security and salaries that the international community is not 
spending currently on the Haitian judicial system.  One 
Haitian judge pointed out that if this funding and equipment 
were available to the local justice system, it might be 
capable of functioning like the proposed hybrid court.  Some 
have questioned whether this court would also entail an 
 
PORT AU PR 00000370  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
international police force as well to make the arrests and 
participate in the investigations. 
 
Better Pay, More Jail Cells and other Immediate Needs 
---------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The immediate needs of Haiti's judicial system are 
overwhelming; however there are several themes local and 
international players emphasize.  The first is better pay and 
benefits for the magistrates.  Largely due to low salaries 
and late paychecks, corruption is pervasive; magistrates are 
known universally for accepting bribes and retaining fees 
levied on the offenders.  Court houses are not well-equipped 
and the magistrates do not have access to files, books or a 
law library.  Fontain described the conditions at the 
district attorney's office in Port-au-Prince as utterly 
inadequate: overcrowded offices with no supplies or 
computers, where magistrates alternate shifts for lack of 
space, leading to prolonged detention time for detainees. 
Some observers commented that the magistrates needed more 
access to materials and supplies during trial; NCSC's 
Lamarche opined that since only three percent (a very low 
percentage) of arrests end in trial, the process by which 
offenders are brought to trial is more pressing at this 
moment than materials used in trial. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Racicot said that the justice system needs to 
start recording cases, perhaps linked to the national 
identity card, in order to move forward.  Many of the 
offenders are in and out of prison on a regular basis either 
because they pay bribes or because their cases are dropped. 
Information on repeat offenders would strengthen the system. 
Also, the investigative capacity of the justice system is 
limited.  Racicot told Poloff that as of 2007, the only case 
of forensic science being used to investigate a crime in 
Haiti occurred in the mid 1990s when robbers shot and killed 
local employees of the U.S. embassy while trying to steal 
cash being transported from the bank.  Separately, Lamarche 
outlined the dismal conditions of Haiti's prisons.  Fontain 
described a prison in Saint Marc, which was built by the 
French during the 18th century, and which is currently at 
double capacity. 
 
Provinces Have it Worst 
---------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) There are approximately 185 justices of the peace 
in Haiti, most of which are the first and only responders to 
arrests made in the provinces.  They operate independently of 
the justice sector because of lack of communication between 
the justices of the peace and higher courts within the 
jurisdictions.  By empowering (through training, better pay 
and equipment, and communication) the justices of the peace, 
the justice ministry could effectively extend its reform 
across Haiti.  However, many of the judges and magistrates in 
the provinces are political appointees who are not qualified 
for their jobs.  NCSC's project director Peggy Ochandarena 
inspected court houses in Port-au-Prince and outlying areas 
and said that substandard working conditions are particularly 
evident in Haiti's countryside.  In many cases court houses 
are in total disrepair, lacking supplies, books, and files, 
not to mention computers and electricity.  Overall, Fontain 
said that the justice system is inaccessible to those living 
in Haiti's countryside. 
 
Comment 
---------- 
 
      ¶13.  (SBU)  With international efforts, led by the USG 
to reinforce and reform the Haitian National Police (HNP) 
beginning to show marked results, it is becoming increasingly 
apparent that the continuing non-performance of the justice 
system threatens the progress we have made in restoring 
public security on the streets.  MINUSTAH and the GoH are 
re-focusing on justice reform, and we now have an opportunity 
to underscore our own support for the justice reform effort. 
The litmus test for the GoH's efforts will be their 
commitment to the vetting of magistrates, which will be the 
most contentious issue within the minister's legislative 
package.  The Ambassador will shortly meet with the justice 
 
PORT AU PR 00000370  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
minister to get a direct sense of how much fire the minister 
has in his belly to carry through his proposals. 
SANDERSON