Case scenario

Authorization to Initiate an Assessment

The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Republic of Imazonia have agreed to a three year program of cooperation through which Finnish financial assistance will be provided to the Ministry of Justice of Imazonia aimed at strengthening the independence of the Imazonian Judiciary. The implementation of the project will be undertaken by the Administrative Supervisory Unit of the High Court of Imazonia and will include all levels of courts handling private civil matters (not matters dealing with the government of Imazonia). The first activity under this arrangement will be an assessment of pre-agreed indicators of judicial independence by a Finnish non-profit organization (the Transparent Governance Coalition - TGC) which specializes in governance assistance matters. The three areas of focus will be the procedure for selection of new judges, the effectiveness of training of new judges and the salaries of judges of all levels in the country. The Minister of Justice has taken the lead in the negotiation of this arrangement and so is well aware of the project and its purposes, but that negotiation took place more than a year ago. The Chief Judge in charge of the Administrative Supervisory Unit participated in the negotiations, but has not kept up with the implementation arrangements. So, it is not certain what she remembers of the details. Critically the assessment will begin with a survey of the levels of training of the You are a member of the TGC team which is planning to travel to Imazonia in February of this year. The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recommended that TGC seek authorization to initiate the assessment before leaving Helsinki. The group has already made flight reservations to travel to Imazonia on February 15th . You have been asked to produce a draft of the letter and to submit it to the Finish government project officer for review and approval. Your task is to draft the letter described above. It should be no more than 1 page, single spaced. You have never done this before and there is no one to ask how to draft it. But you will certainly be able to figure this out.

Instruction

The purpose of this exercise is to introduce you to the formal processes often necessary to receive authorization to conduct an assessment related to the judiciary. In a more general way, the exercise is also intended to underscore that each sector has its own characteristics and stakeholders and some sectors require more or less formality before they would feel comfortable and "authorized" to work with you. Justice sector stakeholders are normally more formal and will expect you to seek formal approval before you initiate your assessment. The precise scope of that assessment would, in the case of the judiciary, also need to be agreed upon.

Please draft a letter to a high court judge in Imazonia concerning the project which is briefly described in one of the attachments to this assignment. The letter will describe the nature of the assessment and how it will be carried out and seek the judge's authorization for your assessment team toproceed with the assessment.