KYRGYZSTAN: Advancing Integrated Criminal Justice Information Management in the Kyrgyz Republic

Project Topic & Roadmap

Following the successful implementation of the project “The Rule of Law Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic – 2nd phase (ROLPRO 2)”, the new project aims to assist the Kyrgyz government in further improving the criminal justice system. This will be done by introducing digital means to record criminal procedural steps as well as to monitor the overall performance of the criminal justice system on the national level.

The project started in December 2022 as a sub-project of the Delegation Agreement of the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime “Support to Justice Sector Reform in the Kyrgyz Republic: Advancing Probation and Integrated Justice Information Management (JUST4ALL)”. The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR) – programme line “Rule of Law and Public Sector Reform” – will implement this project under the leadership of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Focus Area

The main objective of the project is to further enhance access to justice and the rule of law in Kyrgyzstan. To this end, LBI-GMR will provide technical assistance to the Kyrgyz Republic to set up the Integrated Criminal Justice Information Management System. The purpose of this system is to document every procedural step of the criminal justice process electronically, which is vital in order to comply with the national legal requirement of recording all criminal procedural steps. Ultimately, the Integrated Criminal Justice Information Management System allows to collect data on parameters of criminal cases which can be used to evaluate the overall performance of the Kyrgyz criminal justice system.

The Integrated Criminal Justice Information Management System will be comprised of a variety of modules, each of which deals with a particular set of data related to the respective criminal procedural step, as well as supporting submodules. LBI-GMR will contribute its expertise to ensure that the development of this system will comply with human rights and gender-responsive standards as well as data protection requirements.

Method

The LBI-GMR cooperates closely with the Kyrgyz Office of the Prosecutor General and the Ministry of Justice Probation Department.

Main activities include:

• technical support in developing the necessary modules and submodules
• ensuring that newly developed modules and submodules comply with human rights standards
• strengthening data protection safeguards relevant for the Integrated Criminal Justice Information Management System
• advising Kyrgyz authorities on enhancing national human rights guarantees by using IT-solutions
• developing guidelines on how law enforcement can use personal data