the poor physical conditions and the lack of personnel and equipment 

overwhelmed the limited capabilities of these judicial institutions. 

According to U.S. and Haitian officials, conditions were much worse in the 

judicial facilities that had not received any U.S. and other donor assistance. 

U.S. assistance helped fewer than half of the justice of the peace courts and 

only 10 of the 15 judicial jurisdictions.

The improvements to the judicial sector made possible by U.S. assistance 

have been limited because the Haitian government has not put in place an 

effective oversight capability to monitor the judicial sector. The Ministry of 

Justice has a judicial inspection unit that has limited oversight capabilities 

and physical and human resources to deal with the problems of the sector, 

such as judicial corruption. 

The Haitian government's failure to vigorously support investigations and 

prosecutions of serious crimes, such as drug related crimes and political 

assassinations, has hindered the improvements in the prosecutorial 

capabilities of the judicial sector made possible by the U.S. assistance. 

According to Haitian officials, prosecutors and investigating magistrates do 

not have an incentive to investigate and prosecute major criminal cases 

and, if they do investigate, they do it with the knowledge that they are 

risking their personal security. 

Conclusions

We recognize that Haiti has limited financial, physical, and human 

resources and that achieving major progress in building and reforming 

effective justice institutions is a long term effort, as has been the case in 

other countries in the hemisphere pursuing similar goals. The United States 

provided assistance to Haiti, generally without specific conditions, that 

helped establish the Haitian police and improve aspects of the judicial 

sector and the access of the population to justice. However, despite the 

achievements made possible by U.S. assistance and initial Haitian efforts, 

both the Haitian police and the judicial sectors still have major 

shortcomings. The Haitian government failed to strengthen its police force 

and ensure its impartiality. Also, the Haitian government did not 

institutionalize many of the improvements made possible by U.S. 

assistance and did not implement the broad reform of the judicial sector 

needed to address its main problems. Unless the Haitian government 

commits to strengthening and reforming its justice institutions, these 

institutions will continue to face major problems and be ineffective. 

Without that commitment, further U.S. assistance will likely continue to 

have limited impact on these institutions.

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