USAID has sponsored administration of justice programs in Bolivia for more than 17 years. Rule of Law (ROL) projects in Bolivia have been among the largest in Latin America. One of the most important ROL endeavors was the new Criminal Procedures Code, enacted in 1999 and in effect in 2001.

The projects under evaluation were continuations of those earlier endeavors to reform the Criminal Procedures Code (CPC) and promote its implementation throughout all levels of the criminal justice system, promote public awareness and backing of the new Code, and greatly enhance public access to justice. This Checchi/USAID project began in 2005 and was budgeted at approximately $14,000,000.

Even while being “overtaken by events,” principally the changes in Government of Bolivia personnel beginning in 2006, many positive achievements were truncated. The Public Defender Office, the Legal Security initiatives, the replicas of the ADR Centers, and the IJCs were not fully institutionalized by the time the project ended.

The contractors reacted flexibly to the changes in the project’s political environment but DI had questions about the sustainability of projects.