amendment was to set up a Common Law Division under the Judicial Bench, to enhance access of litigants with a Common Law background to the Judge31. 69- In a bid to further ease access to justice, members of the Legal Aid Commission are appointed to courts of the judicial order. Although the optimal functioning of some of the Commissions was hampered by financial constraints, litigants continued to apply to them for legal aid (Rec. 10). During the period 2013-2017, out of 1,079 applications registered, 380 were granted full legal aid, 62 granted partial legal aid and 637 disallowed. The action of the Cameroon Bar Association through free legal advice given to indigent litigants within the framework of the Bar-Governance-Rule of Law Project (PBGE) implemented with the support of the European Union also helped ease access to justice. 70- With regard to legal aid granted vulnerable persons who are victims of violation of their civil and political rights, the Cameroon Bar Association launched an inventory of matters for which the parties did not have counsel before the following Regional Administrative Courts: Adamawa Region (9), Centre Region (31) East Region (6), Littoral Region (20), West Region (16) and South Region (9). In all, 91 out of the expected 150 files were identified. However, it should be noted that Far North Region and North Region did not have matters for which the parties did not have counsel in spite of the strong determination of the Lawyers to support the socially vulnerable persons before the courts. 71- The enactment of Law No.2017/12 of 12 July 2017 to lay down the Code of Military Justice consolidated the guarantees of fair trial before Military Tribunals. In this regard, innovations include the period of police custody which, henceforth, is 24 hours renewable twice in accordance with the CPC, the application of the flagrante delicto procedure and conferring on the State Prosecutor the powers to initiate public action in order to significantly speed up the processing of matters. 72- With a view to increasing the number of courts and oversee their equitable distribution throughout the national territory (Rec. 6), an identification process of sites for the construction of Courts of First Instance and Prisons is underway since the 2017 financial year nationwide. At the end of May 2018, some 37 communities in 9 Regions were selected for the identification of sites32. The selection was led by the following criteria: regular holding of assizes, thick population, significant economic activity, and the distance between the community and existing courts. Land was acquired in the following 2 Regions: South Region with land of 20 hectares for the Prison and 2 hectares for the Court in Mvengue; Littoral Region with land of 35 hectares for the Prison and the Court at Ngambe, 20 hectares for the Prison and 1 hectare for the Court in Ndom, and 20 hectares for the Prison and 10,000m2 for the Court in Muanko. The achievement of this initiative depends on the size of the public investment budget. 73- On the whole, the financial resources allocated to the justice sector (Rec. 5) varied year on year. The table below does not contain the salaries of staff that remained static: (APPENDIX No 3) 74- Such allocations show that the budget of the justice sector between 2013 and 2017 represents about 1.34% of the State budget. Within the limits of available resources, the 31 Comprising Judges with a common law background, the Common Law Division shall as per section 37-1 of the Law “have jurisdiction, in matters relating to Common law, to hear appeals against: - final decisions of tribunals; - judgments of courts of appeal.” 32 The communities include Ngaoundal and Belel in Adamawa Region; Okola, Sa’a, Ayaos, Makak, Botmakak, Dzeng, Esse and Yoko in Centre Region; Messamena, Nguelemendouka, Garoua-Boulai, Lomie, Betare-Oya and Mabang in East Region; Ngambe, Ndom and Mouanko in Littoral Region; Bafut, Oku, Jakiri, Misaje, Menchum-Valley, Babessi and Njinikom in North West Region; Penka-Michel in West Region; Mvangane, Mvengue, Ngoulemakong, Zoetele, Lolodorf and Mezesse (for a Customary Court) in South Region; and Ekondo Titi, Eyumujock, Mbonge and Fontem in South West Region. 17