Jericho, West Bank - On Thursday, September 4, 2008, David Harden, Deputy Mission ‎Director for the U.S. Agency for International Development West Bank-Gaza Mission, ‎participated in the inaugural opening of the Jericho Serious Crimes Court. The event was ‎presided over by Prime Minister Fayyad. The opening of this Jericho judicial facility is another ‎step in the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to strengthen the Palestinian judicial system. ‎

USAID’s support for establishing the new Jericho Courthouse included design, furniture, ‎equipment, a signage system and court chambers. Mr. Harden cited this as just one example ‎of U.S. government support for strengthening the Palestinian judiciary, saying, “We share your ‎hope for a Palestinian state living in peace and security, and strengthening of the judicial ‎system is an important step toward achieving that dream.”‎

Other USAID projects in this field include support for the construction of the Jenin courthouse, ‎the Civil Judgment Department in Ramallah and the Supreme Judicial Council Library. ‎

In May 2008, the Palestinian judiciary and the key justice sector institutions adopted the ‎historic Justice Sector National Plan, which is the blue print for reforming and modernizing the ‎justice sector institutions. USAID has been working closely with judicial counterparts to help ‎meet some of the key objectives outlined in the plan.‎

Supporting the establishment of the Jericho Courthouse is part of USAID’s capacity building ‎efforts as outlined in the Justice Sector National Plan. The Plan calls for empowering the ‎judiciary to develop its capacities and improve its services under the law, and specifically ‎creating an adequate litigation environment by establishing new courts that meet key ‎measures in terms of structure, accessibility, size, comfort and security. ‎

As part of efforts to support and strengthen the Palestinian judiciary, USAID has been ‎providing assistance since 1999 to enhance judicial institutions and court services in order to ‎better serve the Palestinian public and restore public confidence in the court system. ‎