    national associations, religious leaders, so as to create guidance and direction for further enlightenment on the new national codes Media sensitization and discussion on radio, television, print media is strengthened and expanded through a collaboration between the Ministries of Justice and Information The Ministry of Justice has already strengthened its civic education programme and is ready for the wider public awareness campaign on the new National Codes Programmes are already in progress to produce law and society education in junior and senior secondary schools Preparation for the translations of the National Codes to all Eritrean languages (already circulated in three languages – Tigrigna, Arabic, and English). is also underway Equitable Access and Coverage 44. The equitable access of judicial service has also improved the judicial justice. Majority of cases, especially criminal cases that are brought to the judiciary are minor offences that can be fixed quickly. However, the dearth of judges who can sit throughout the country has made it difficult for people to litigate such cases in their vicinities. Given the gravity of the problems, it became reasonable for the Government to alleviate the unnecessary waste of time, energy, and expenses to go to the nearest court which could be hours and in some cases days away. To that end community courts are established since 2003 under the provision of Proclamation No 132/2003. The members are elected by the community and by law one of the three judges is a female. To strengthen the judicial justice capabilities at local level community court judges are given basic legal training, basic literacy programme and file keeping and management at a center established by the Ministry of Justice in a village called Meqarka. The courts have created the following advantages:    The adjudication of minor civil litigations has enhanced people‟s equitable access to justice at local level. It empowered citizens to use their mother language in the judicial process Furthermore, it has allowed citizens to have access to judicial services within their vicinity resulting in less expenses and energy The effort has also empowered communities to deal with issues to a certain level of competence and responsibility. 45. The cases that have been assigned to community courts are those which have social character and that can best be solved at the community level. The judges in these courts are exhorted to solve the disputes through conciliation in accordance with local custom before they adjudicate based on the national law. Appeal is allowed to the next level of regional courts. Given the effectiveness of the community courts in enhancing access to the justice system, their jurisdiction has been expanded for the purpose of furthering the human rights of the people. They have become important in addressing the causes of law violation, improving public order and settling disputes at local level. Roughly 85% of judicial cases have been dealt with by Community Courts with more than 90% of these settled through arbitration. Page 13 of 100