structures which give aid and support to the citizen through the provision of the
required information and necessary services. Among these structures figure the
State Counsels established in all the Courts, the Judicial Council and Social
Action Unit, the Citizens’ Relations Bureau and the permanent Counter.
623. It is in this perspective that the recourse to modern methods in the
administration of justice lies. In effect, the Computing Master Plan which had
been updated comprises both the setting up of a system linking the Courts
together and the Courts with Central Government and systems and programmes
linked to the registers kept by the Clerks of the Courts, besides the production in
the civil and penal domains.
624. In order to provide more guarantees for the triables, numerous measures
had been taken to this effect, including in particular:
- The reduction of the costs of court proceedings through the suppression of the
rights to enrolement and of speech for the defence and through the reduction of
the right to registration of Judgements;
- The improvement, under the terms of the law n° 2002-52 of 3rd June 2002, of
the system of legal assistance through the broadening of the circle of triables
who are to benefit from it, the simplification of the related procedures, the
institution of a special system of remuneration for the officers of the court
designated by the Judge as well as the possibility of recovering the legal costs;
-The institution of a new legal framework offering legal guarantees for the
protection of Companies, and this following the promulgation of the law n° 200093 of 3rd November 2000 relative to the promulgation of the Code of Business
Entreprises;
- The amendment of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Code by virtue of the
law n° 2002-82 of 3rd August 2002 in order to guarantee greater efficiency to
the procedures of execution of Judgements, from the first phases of the
institution of legal proceedings, thanks to the enhanced simplification of the
reporting procedures, the summons and the notification up to the last phase of
the civil dispute and the commencement of execution;
- The establishment, under the terms of the law n° 2003-15 of 15th February
2003, of the function of social security Judge, an advanced form of the Child
Benefit Office Judge. The role of the social security Judge is, in effect, extended
to include rulings on matters involving the affiliates to the social security fund
whether they are from the public or private sector;
- The institution, under the terms of the law n° 2000-43 of 17th April 2000, of the
principle of two tier proceedings in criminal matters for the benefit of the persons
to be tried aged more than eighteen years and the institution of the same
system in the area of justice for children, under the terms of the law n° 2000-53
of 22nd May 2000;
- The establishment, under the terms of the law n° 2000-77 of 31st July 2000, of
the office of penalty execution Judge having numerous roles including, notably,
his power to propose the release of certain prisoners on parole, of controlling
the conditions of execution of sentences within the prison establishments, of
visiting the prison at least once every two months, of meeting the prisoners and
checking the disciplinary register. Moreover, under the terms of the law n° 200292 of 29th October 2002, the role of the penalty execution Judge had been
strengthened to allow him to release detainees on parole in cases of certain
offenses and to guarantee the monitoring of the execution of the penalty of
community labour which falls under the prison Department;
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