Towards judicial modernization: a strategy for monitoring and evaluation in Honduras

Abstract

This paper seeks to provide an overview of the broad challenges faced by the Judicial Branch in Honduras hindering its efficiency, transparency and accessibility. It profiles a World Bank supported Judicial Branch Modernization Project, with a focus on the strategy adopted for implementation, monitoring and evaluation. In line with the vision developed by the Judicial Branch to address current gaps in capacity, the strategy adopted for this project in Honduras is one of implementation in phases, and of ?learning-by-doing.? This approach, which is felt to be the most practicable one for achieving tangible and replicable results in the short and medium term, requires a strong emphasis on the monitoring and evaluation of results. The role of information and statistics, and for the strategic use of that information, becomes all the more critical within such a strategy. By adopting a comprehensive and incremental approach to the monitoring and evaluation of results in the early stages of its modernization program, the Judicial Branch of Honduras can ensure that appropriate mechanisms such as management statistics are introduced to monitor, evaluate, and develop empirically based methods to improve both performance and planning. Monitoring and evaluation thus become critical tools in enabling institutional transformation, and provide the necessary foundation for reaching long-term institutional goals.