Judicial Cooperation Initiatives

A collage of 5 color photographs shows members of the Canadian judiciary, including the Chief Justice of Canada, as well as Canadian and foreign officials at conferences around the world. The photos also feature the courthouse in Jamaica, as well as court administrators and filing systems from around the world.

FJA has engaged in a variety of judicial cooperation initiatives in support of Canada's foreign policy objectives, assisting judicial partners in other countries in their efforts to develop or strengthen judicial administrative policy, systems and operations within courts and judicial bodies.

Initiatives designed and led by FJA have included:

  • Large multi-year judicial reform, court administration, and development projects with institutional partners overseas
  • Short-term programs involving exposure and orientation of international judges, officials, and delegations to the Canadian judicial system and practices
  • Conferences and other events (including the 2013 Justice in Development Conference and the 2011 Judicial Roundtables on Access to Justice and Legal Empowerment of the Poor)
  • Coordination of one-time visits by judicial officials and delegations to Canada

Long-term and multi-year programs and projects have been funded through Global Affairs Canada and executed in partnership with, or assisted by, Canadian agencies, institutions and individual experts.

The following map represents the countries in which FJA has implemented medium and long-term judicial cooperation projects with courts and other judicial institutional partners.

FJA has designed and implemented multi-year projects with judicial institutions in the following countries:



Judicial Cooperation Project Locations:

Jamaica (2010-2016)
  • Judicial Independence and Accountability
    • Coordination of high-level conferences and round table seminars on judicial independence and ethics
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Capacity building of senior judicial administrative personnel, education of personnel as trainers and development of training programs for registrars and court administrators
    • Drafting and approving comprehensive sourcebooks on efficient court management and administration practices
    • Strengthening management reporting, court statistics collection, judicial performance and court performance
    • Strengthening and streamlining case flow management and pre-trial processes including process mapping, improved client services and business process re-engineering
    • Strengthening effective case management and the early resolution of cases through methods including but not limited to pre-trials, managing criminal trials, early disclosure protocols, trial readiness, and adjournments
  • Access to Justice
    • Examination of the accessibility of court operations to the public and introduce improvements, where appropriate, to increase the publics access to and interaction with courts (i.e. reorganizing and/or adding space, improved signage, pamphlets/instructions on the preparation of documents, developing forms, etc..)
    • Coordination of conferences, panel discussions, and round table seminars on human rights, gender equality principles, social justice, legal empowerment of the poor, development and justice sector reform, rule of law and political stability, and judicial independence
Ukraine (1996-2002, 2006-2011, 2012-2016, 2016-2020)
  • Judicial Independence and Accountability
    • Assistance with development and adoption of ethical guidelines for judges
    • Support in the drafting of a judicial code of conduct and procedural rules for disciplining judges
    • Facilitation of exposure to Canadian practice, policy, and legislative and regulatory safeguards available in the judicial administrative context
    • Coordination of high-level conferences and round table seminars on judicial independence and ethics
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Capacity building of senior judicial administrative personnel, education of personnel as trainers and development of training programs for registrars and court administrators
    • Streamlining of roles and functions as between administrative personnel and judges
    • Determination of capacity building needs relating to a specialized court
    • Strengthening management reporting, court statistics collection, judicial performance and court performance
    • Strengthening and streamlining case flow management and pre-trial processes including process mapping, improved client services and business process re-engineering
    • Court automation
    • Evaluation and identification of areas for reform
    • Introduction and implementation of judicially-assisted dispute resolution (JADR) in order to promote efficacy in court proceedings and reduce case backlog
  • Transparency in the Justice System
    • Introduction and assistance in the piloting of relevant media-related positions in courts and the development of related public documentation
    • Capacity building of judges and press secretaries on interacting with the media
  • Access to Justice
    • Examination of the accessibility of court operations to the public and introduce improvements, where appropriate, to increase the publics access to and interaction with courts (i.e. reorganizing and/or adding space, improved signage, pamphlets/instructions on the preparation of documents, developing forms, etc..)
    • Coordination of conferences, panel discussions, and round table seminars on human rights, gender equality principles, social justice, legal empowerment of the poor, development and justice sector reform, rule of law and political stability, and judicial independence
    • Compilation and examination of gender-related laws
West Bank (2012-2013)
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Identification of gaps and areas for reform
Maldives (2012-2013)
  • Judicial Independence and Accountability
    • Support in the drafting of a judicial code of conduct and procedural rules for disciplining judges
    • Facilitation of exposure to Canadian practice, policy, and legislative and regulatory safeguards available in the judicial administrative context
    • Coordination of high-level conferences and round table seminars on judicial independence and ethics
Peru (2010-2013)
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Streamlining of roles and functions as between administrative personnel and judges
    • Development of a proposal for amendments to procedural rules
  • Access to Justice
    • Coordination of conferences, panel discussions, and round table seminars on human rights, gender equality principles, social justice, legal empowerment of the poor, development and justice sector reform, rule of law and political stability, and judicial independence
Ghana (2010-2013)
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Capacity building of senior judicial administrative personnel, education of personnel as trainers and development of training programs for registrars and court administrators
    • Drafting and approving comprehensive sourcebooks on efficient court management and administration practices
    • Developing archiving systems
  • Access to Justice
    • Coordination of conferences, panel discussions, and round table seminars on human rights, gender equality principles, social justice, legal empowerment of the poor, development and justice sector reform, rule of law and political stability, and judicial independence
Mexico (2010-2012)
  • Judicial Independence and Accountability
    • Assistance with development and adoption of ethical guidelines for judges
    • Facilitation of exposure to Canadian practice, policy, and legislative and regulatory safeguards available in the judicial administrative context
    • Coordination of high-level conferences and round table seminars on judicial independence and ethics
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Streamlining of roles and functions as between administrative personnel and judges
Russia (1999-2009)
  • Judicial Independence and Accountability
    • Assistance with development and adoption of ethical guidelines for judges
    • Facilitation of exposure to Canadian practice, policy, and legislative and regulatory safeguards available in the judicial administrative context
    • Coordination of high-level conferences and round table seminars on judicial independence and ethics
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Capacity building of senior judicial administrative personnel, education of personnel as trainers and development of training programs for registrars and court administrators
    • Development of a proposal for amendments to procedural rules
    • Determination of capacity building needs relating to a specialized court
    • Court automation
    • Developing archiving systems
    • Evaluation and identification of areas for reform
  • Transparency in the Justice System
    • Coordination of high-level round table seminars on increasing public awareness and on court-media relations
  • Access to Justice
    • Examination of the accessibility of court operations to the public and introduce improvements, where appropriate, to increase the publics access to and interaction with courts (i.e. reorganizing and/or adding space, improved signage, pamphlets/instructions on the preparation of documents, developing forms, etc..)
    • Coordination of conferences, panel discussions, and round table seminars on human rights, gender equality principles, social justice, legal empowerment of the poor, development and justice sector reform, rule of law and political stability, and judicial independence
Ethiopia (2000-2005)
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Streamlining of roles and functions as between administrative personnel and judges
    • Drafting and approving comprehensive sourcebooks on efficient court management and administration practices
    • Strengthening management reporting, court statistics collection, judicial performance and court performance
    • Court automation and strengthening of information technologies
    • Developing archiving systems
  • Transparency in the Justice System
    • Support in publicizing higher court judgments
  • Access to Justice
    • Examination of the accessibility of court operations to the public and introduce improvements, where appropriate, to increase the public's access to and interaction with courts (i.e. reorganizing and/or adding space, improved signage, pamphlets/instructions on the preparation of documents, developing forms, etc..)
    • Judicial gender mainstreaming initiatives including capacity building in gender-sensitive data recording of court cases
China (2002-2003, 2005-2009)
  • Judicial Independence and Accountability
    • Assistance with development and adoption of ethical guidelines for judges
    • Support in the drafting of a judicial code of conduct and procedural rules for disciplining judges
    • Facilitation of exposure to Canadian practice, policy, and legislative and regulatory safeguards available in the judicial administrative context
  • Efficient Court Administration and Management
    • Streamlining of roles and functions as between administrative personnel and judges
    • Strengthening and streamlining case flow management and pretrial processes including process mapping, improved client services and business process re-engineering
  • Transparency in the Justice System
    • Assistance with development of a framework for selection of judges
South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan) (2003-2008)
  • Access to Justice
    • Facilitation of Canadian judicial participation in an equality-related judicial education forum