Following its independence in 1991, Eritrea faced the challenge of the codification of its laws, based on the country’s values, history and culture and the socioeconomic aspirations of its people. The country’s tradition of peaceful dispute resolution by community members in accordance with customary laws became the mainstay of the present formal community-court system, established in 2003. Civil and criminal codes and their related procedures were successfully published in 2015. These advancements nonetheless represented a heavy burden for the justice sector, which did not have the capacity to effectively manage the almost 400 community courts countrywide.

The project Enhancing Human and Institutional Capacity in the Justice Sector in Eritrea seeks to strengthen the performance of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Eritrea and improve the administration of justice in the country. The project is implemented by the MoJ, which is responsible for achieving the expected results and ensuring that the outputs are produced through effective use of project funds. 

The project is professionalizing and strengthening the legal services department of the MoJ so that it can adequately address emerging and anticipated legal trends and anomalies (such as transnational legal anomalies in the areas of maritime law, transnational crime, environmental law, investment and corporate law and a cybersecurity legal framework). The capacity of the judges appointed to the almost 400 community courts countrywide is being strengthened to improve the business efficiency of justice processes and administration. The efficiency and effectives of justice services at community courts are being enhanced through newly recruited law graduates that complement the roles of community court judges. It is envisaged that the law graduates will also undergo training to assimilate into this court system and the justice administrative processes. 

The MoJ training centre will serve as a training hub and centre of excellence providing revised curriculum and support for public services. Training, including online and in-house training, will be available locally, regionally and internationally. Activities will include study and exploratory visits, curriculum development and peer support exchanges between countries with similar legal systems.  

As part of the project, the MoJ and UNDP engaged with the University of South Africa (UNISA) through a South-South cooperation modality to create specialized online Eritrean law learning programmes for MoJ officials. MoJ officials with Bachelor of Law degrees can register for the Master of Law and training in business leadership and management and newly recruited officials, as well as community court judges, can register for the diploma in law. 

The majority of MoJ staff are currently holders of Bachelor of Law degrees, diplomas and certificates, with few specializations. Only five officials are holders of Master of Law degrees. By increasing this number twentyfold, the project envisages transforming the human resource landscape of the ministry, enabling the administration of justice to be fulfilled with a higher degree of professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness. The newly trained legal cadres are expected to be able to contribute to the sustainability of the project by supplementing the shortage of instructors at the School of Law and by conducting upgrading training programmes at the ministry. 

The 2020 cohort of 52 students are performing well and based on assignment and examination results received thus far, many students have obtained distinctions. It was noted that, in particular, female students are performing best. 41 new graduate students are registered for 2021. 

This South-South aspect of the project will improve, enhance and strengthen the administration of justice and ensure greater accessibility to justice-related services in Eritrea. This supports Pillar 3 of the Public Sector Capacity Development of the Strategic Partnership Co-operation Framework (SPCF) between the Government of Eritrea and the United Nations and contributes to SDG implementation, especially Goal 16. It promotes gender equality in both the training of females and through a significant improvement of and consistency in legal administrative services being provided for the entire country.