End of Commitment Report – Preparation of an annex of sentences, with a clear and understandable wording, oriented to priority groups

Name of Evaluator

Rodolfo Guerrero Martínez

Email

rodolfoguemart95@gmail.com

Member Name

Jalisco, México

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Jalisco, Mexico, 2023 – 2024

CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action...

Preparation of an annex of sentences, with a clear and understandable wording, oriented to priority groups.

Action

Prepare an annex to the summary of the judgments in clear, simple and understandable language, in those files where a person belonging to groups in vulnerable situations or persons who due to their circumstances are unable to understand the content of the judgments issued by the Supreme Court of JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... of the State of Jalisco is a party.Groups to be considered: children, adolescents, senior citizens, indigenous communities, people without schooling, people with disabilitiesA government is not open unless it is accessible to all, and governments are working to ensure people with disabilities are afforded equitable services and opportunities to participate. Technical spec... and/or migrants.

Problem

It has been identified that the rulings issued by the Supreme Court of Justice of the State are not very clear, since they do not use colloquial language or use very complicated or technical terms, which are incomprehensible and confusing to the interested parties. The foregoing represents a great problem for society because when these elements are combined, it prevents the identification of relevant information for a person without knowledge in law or lawyering, generating, among other circumstances, economic problems, as they are forced to hire a lawyer, who at least, interprets and explains the resolutions, finding in these situations, multiple cases of abuses.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

limited

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

From limited to substantial.
Since the commitment was adopted in the Third Local Action Plan for Open Government Jalisco, significant changes have arisen in the way the Supreme Court of Justice of the State of Jalisco works; such as the agreement adopted in the Thirty-First Plenary Session, on September 14, 2021, in which it was unanimously approved, as part of the activities of the Specialized Chambers in Civil and Criminal Matters, the preparation of the sentence annexes using clear, simple and understandable language; thus placing the first of the links towards the fulfillment of the commitment aimed at making a Judicial Power accessible to citizens and those seeking justice. Thus, seen from a “formal” point of view, it can be considered that establishing an essential activity such as the annex of sentences with simple language for priority groups, forms the fundamental basis of the recognition required to establish.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

• Action No. 2 Report/diagnosis
• Attendance list for the Practical Legal Writing Workshop
• Final List of People Who Accredit Certificate 

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

As mentioned in the previous point, from the point of view of formal knowledge, it is considered that there is significant progress in the implementation of easy-to-read formats or annexes of sentences, because the first step has been taken, which is, in a differentiated framework, to recognize the plurality and diversity of those seeking justice. Therefore, it can be considered that the Third Open Government Plan of Jalisco, within its essence, was the architect that currently composes the implementation aimed at improving the quality of service for citizens, so that their participation from citizen consultations and through working groups are the result of the development of templates for the implementation of commitments.

It should also be considered that, clearly, the application cycle of the aforementioned Third Action Plan for Local Open Government, as its temporal application framework indicates (2021-2022), was significantly extended until the current year, given the notorious fact that the complications of the CIVD-19 pandemic were, which at least in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico, concluded until last year 2022, in which there were still implements for mitigation, prevention, attention and care for citizens, judicial officials and the litigants themselves, causing these to be significant delays in their timely application; since this result ultimately led to the change in the Integration of the Executive Secretariat that coordinated the Local Open Government exercises in Jalisco, the Monitoring Committees themselves that evaluated the degree of compliance with the actions for their implementation; and, the rotation of those in charge of the commitment internally by the Supreme Court of Justice of the State of Jalisco.

Measuring the degree of affectation or regression in compliance with the measures would, however, require considering a separate diagnosis, in which each would be measured as and in what way.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

most of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

As already mentioned, the main substantial element, given that the commitment adopted was the preparation of a sentence annex, with clear and understandable wording that was aimed at priority groups, it must be noted that the main compliance factor has been added for the improvement of the public service, because since what was the aforementioned Thirty-First Plenary Session adopted on September 14, 2021, the annexes ceased to be ideas to become concrete action measures that permeate the administration and delivery of justice, making it possible for those seeking justice in case of omission or abstention to resort to the procedurally provided mechanisms to request their application.

On the contrary, it is insisted that the result was not the desired one, since of the 11 Specialized Chambers in Civil and Criminal Matters, only the Fourth and especially the Ninth Civil Chamber sent the requested information.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Sentences in easy-to-read format
• List of Agreements corresponding to the Thirty-first Ordinary Plenary Session

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

As stated, considering the results obtained in the application of the commitment, it has produced on a substantial impact of recognition, since it has influenced the improvement of the quality of the existing information with the implementation of annexes for the clear, simple and understandable wording of this information to priority groups. This benefits revealing the information to the largest number of people, and also focusing on those who are considered to be in a special framework of attention, thus improving the channels to disclose judicial resolutions, but even more completely, to request and demand by the same litigants an action that now constitutes the formal application of jurisdictional tasks.

Provide evidence for your answer:

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

It should be considered that co-creation, as a form of collaborative innovation between the government and society, has significantly and substantially influenced the adoption of the Plenary Agreement of the Thirty-First Plenary Session adopted on September 14, 2021, because without this participation, it is clear that the Superior Court of Justice would continue to adopt an ordinary action to which it had been referring with the issuance of sentences focused on technical language and jargon directed at the same legal professionals.

Without a doubt, the Third Open Government Action Plan shows us that the Technical Secretary is a reality, and that citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More improves to the appropriate extent the forms, procedures and performance of its public entities by directing and channeling specialized attention, even as an affirmative action within a procedural adjustment that improves communication channels and allows, at the same time, citizen attention.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Sentences in easy-to-read format
• List of Agreements corresponding to the Thirty-first Ordinary Plenary Session

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

No

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The poor response received from the Chambers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the State of Jalisco cannot be denied, as they sent little information or, if necessary, simply omitted the evidence that was requested. This shows that another aspect of the implementation of the Plenary Agreement of the Thirty-First Plenary Session adopted on September 14, 2021, henceforth requires an institutional intervention – surveillance – in which a more specific follow-up and the application of administrative sanctions are adopted.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Sentences in easy-to-read format
• List of Agreements corresponding to the Thirty-first Ordinary Plenary Session

2.1.4 Other Results

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

As stated, although there were fortuitous factors that influenced the implementation of this Third Open Government Plan, special mention should be made of the Summary Manual that was drafted as an effort to create a practical tool that would address not only a larger catalogue of priority groups, but also with the intention of addressing and understanding their differences, and creating a standardized framework within judicial action for the creation of annexes. Thus, although this work was not completed during the course of this Third Plan, it was part or a result of the proactive commitments and efforts adopted in open government and a substantial measure as part of the changes -rotation of judicial personnel- that occurred with the replacement of those in charge of the commitments adopted.

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Among the exercises applied to implement solutions, citizen participation emerged, through citizen consultations and working groups where the Judicial Branch of this Entity, considered in a co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive..., the needs to strengthen the administration and delivery of justice, these being:

• Write sentences with clear, simple and precise language; without technicalities or legal latinisms;
• Generate a summary of a brief, simple and citizen sentence, detailing the legal problem to be resolved, and where the arguments in which the ruling was deliberated were arranged; and,
• Issue sentences in accessible formats for groups that were in vulnerable conditions.

If the citizen suggestion is considered, through the Plenary Agreement of the Thirty-First Plenary Session adopted on September 14, 2021, this sense of Open JusticeAn open, independent, and impartial justice system serves as a foundation for better access to justice by fulfilling all people’s civil liberties and allowing individuals to more effectively protect... is answered, and the annex of sentences with.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• List of Agreements corresponding to the Thirty-first Ordinary Plenary Session

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

Without a doubt, the work carried out has shown that there is collaboration between various judicial agencies and bodies for citizen implementation focused on open government. The reality converges to a series of circumstances, in which in addition to an important aspect in training, it requires an essential glimpse of institutional awareness in which the civil service participates, the need to implement a series of actions that affect a better quality of service within the administration and delivery of justice.

This is considered so, because it shows that a measure that is not monitored and is not supported by practical tools, generates an action from which one can escape practically without any consequence, and it is applied to civil servants who may conclude that the heavy workload that they already have in the jurisdictional function is excessive. It is therefore appropriate to harvest these efforts and channel them into ongoing activity, set out in what may be the Fourth Local Action Plan for Open Government, so that those spaces of opportunity that were referred to in additional and proactive measures, such as the case discussed in the Easy-to-Read Sentence Synthesis Manual, involve within their same objective, to have a greater impact on the development of annexes for the synthesis of easy-to-read sentences, but also, so that to the same extent, measures for training in their understanding continue to be adopted.