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PM Barzani’s speech at rule of law roundtable

FRI, 20 FEB 2009 21:57 | KRG.org

Erbil, 19 February 2009

Speech by KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani

Roundtable: Ten-year plan to strengthen the rule of law

Good afternoon and welcome. I am pleased to participate in this discussion with you about the supremacy of the rule of law.

One of the most important duties of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is to strengthen our judiciary and law enforcement mechanisms. We know that, more than almost any other challenge, failure to address these matters will hold back progress across a broad range of issues.

For this reason, we are grateful to the United States government for paying attention to this issue, and working together with us in order to help us achieve these goals.

I consider this roundtable today to be an important start, but I would like to make a point about action. In the past five years since the liberation, we have had many delegations –governments, private sector entities, NGOs and others – who have come here to discuss important issues with us.

We have held many conferences and meetings on a range of problems. These meetings have been useful in many areas, but it is also true that meetings and conferences do not solve problems. So we must move forward practically, and we should prepare a plan for implementation in order to achieve our goals. And we would like you to help us in our efforts.

I would hope today that we can also discuss ideas and proposals for concrete actions that we can take immediately, which can help improve our performance in the judicial system and the rule of law in the Kurdistan Region.

I will be brief because I am anxious to hear what others have to say and provide everyone with an opportunity to contribute to this discussion. Below are six principle themes upon which I believe we should focus – within the framework of a comprehensive plan.

1) Training of Judges We have taken steps to create a more independent judiciary and to give judges greater freedom and resources to do their jobs without obstacles.
Overall, we have made progress here, and I think our judges are more effective than they were a few years ago. However, they need more training and more experience in administering the law.

And we need to begin today to train new lawyers and new judges for the future. Many of our best judges are old, and we do not have adequate replacements trained.

2) Simplifying the judicial process Our judicial process is confusing and complicated, with overlapping authorities and responsibilities. No average citizen can understand the system and even some of our lawyers do not understand it.
It is a mixture of several different systems and it works too slowly. We are not able to follow up individual cases due to the lack of suitable legal mechanisms, and the bureaucracy in our courts and ministries is overwhelming.

3) Developing effective investigative skills and technologies It is true that in our system the courts have substantial investigative powers, but there should be a comprehensive method to handle these duties.

For example, we do a reasonable job at investigating routine criminal complaints, but our courts are not at all capable of following up and investigating crimes of violence against women.

We have made some progress in developing new skills within our police force, but the courts have important investigative powers that are not well developed at all. That is why we must do more in this regard.

4) Updated correctional and prison system Our prison system is old and in need of repair and renewal. We do not effectively rehabilitate our prisoners, and too many of them return to society only to repeat their crimes. Therefore we must develop plans for social rehabilitation and pay attention to the psychological conditions within the prisons.

5) Education of the public We need to pay more attention to public education. Our people need to be taught, from primary school, to respect the law, courts and the police. In our colleges there is a need to develop curricula so that pupils are educated in a progressive way.

6) Cooperation with other regional initiatives We are aware of initiatives being implemented by the American Bar Association and the US Government in other countries. It would be of great benefit to us to be able to liaise with some of these programmes and to learn from their experiences.

For example, we feel the Jordanian judicial system shares similarities with ours. Developing training and educational links with our counterparts in the region would be of immense value to us.

We should all work with civil society organisations and the media in order to increase the legal awareness of our people in regard to these issues. This is a subject upon which I have placed a great deal of importance. And it is a priority in the KRG’s agenda.

These are some of the ideas that I would like to openly discuss with you. I would like both sides to seriously engage in this issue. Thank you all for coming and participating in this event. Your efforts are most appreciated. Thank you.

See also the press release on the rule of law round table.

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