Standardization of management in the criminal justice system – mission (im)possible!
Focusing efforts on developing a strategic vision of the criminal justice system, strengthening human capital, and forming practices to optimally use the system’s resources and achieving results while maintaining high ethical standards is a very important investment in the sustainability of the criminal justice system. Therefore, JustGroup’s priority is on promoting the management culture of the criminal justice system.
“To get a common baseline or framework, we worked on management standards in the system. Management Standards for the criminal justice system are the product of reflection on the experience of managers. They set the benchmarks and space for research tools. This product is also about the value of accumulating and analyzing experience within the system; it is about growing and developing our peer-to-peer practices. This is critical at the level of culture and communities that discuss and share what is important for them,” said Vasylyna Yavorska, Head of JustGroup and coordinator of the group of authors.
Last year, JustGroup initiated the creation and launch of the first Program for the development of managers in the criminal justice system and drafting the Management Standards. The Standards are an entry point to explore the manager’s role in the system and the ways to implement this role. It is a way to start a discussion about approaches to improving institutional performance through goal setting and prioritization, performance management, human capital development and maintenance, good communication and partnership development, and knowledge management.
The expert group started conceptualizing the Management Standards within the framework of the Human Rights and Justice Program initiative of the International Renaissance Foundation which focused on developing the Standards of Pre-Trial Investigation. The expert group included Vasylyna Yavorska, head of JustGroup, coordinator of the group; Denys Hiulmahomedov, Deputy Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine; Yurii Bielousov, head of the Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office; Bohdan Kryklyvenko, head of staff of the High Anti-Corruption Court; and Taras Filonenko, expert, JustGroup consultant. This team of authors presented the Standards for the first time. The event took place at the High Anti-Corruption Court on March 12, 2024.
“One of the critical needs of modern criminal justice is to know your purpose, the key problems that are to be solved and to solve them as efficiently as possible. The Standards describe good governance practices that can help with this. The implementation of the Standards improves the quality of management, and boosts the potential for increasing the clarity and efficiency of the entire system,” said Taras Filonenko.
“In the criminal justice system, managers probably find themselves in the most difficult situation compared to other roles – investigator, prosecutor, judge. After all, the latter have quite clear guidelines that define their roles and activities, while the managers are actually in a complete vacuum, where everyone tries to intuitively find their destination, determine the vector of movement and choose tools for work.
Management Standards are a guidepost that helps a manager of any level significantly narrow the field of uncertainty regarding their role and actions. Essentially, they are a manager’s table-top book,” Yurii Bielousov noted.
“The effectiveness of the head of the pre-trial investigation body or the prosecutor’s office derives directly from the effectiveness of the team they lead. The Standards guide the manager to invest time and effort in the people whom they work with. Development and support of human potential will enable the organization to be effective in the long run,” shared Denys Hiulmahomedov.
“These Standards can become a table-top book for any level of management, as their structure is divided into three levels of management: top-level, mid-level and operational. This is a very helpful guide that offers answers to many questions on how to make criminal justice more effective,” Bohdan Kryklyvenko said.
More photos from the event are available at JustGroup Facebook page.
