Mid-Term Evaluation of the Support to rule of law and access to justice programme (2021)

The Support to Rule of Law and Access to Justice Programme (‘the Programme’) targets four areas where major challenges were identified during the identification and formulation missions: (1) provision of legal services (2) institutional capacity development (staff and systems), (3) research, data analysis and coordination and (4) the fight against corruption. The overall objective of the Programme is to support the rule of law through justice sector reform and increased access to justice for all. 

Conversely, the objectives of this mid-term evaluation were to provide the relevant services of the EU, the Government of Zimbabwe, the interested stakeholders and the wider public with:

•  An overall independent assessment of the past performance of the Programme, paying particular attention to its intermediate results measured against its expected objectives; and the reasons underpinning such results.
• Key lessons learned, conclusions and related recommendations to improve current and future EU Delegation (EUD) interventions in the justice sector for the period 2021 and beyond.

The evaluation is thus both summative and formative. The main users are the EUD, the MoJLPA, JSC, NPA, Parliament, LSZ, Zimbabwe Chiefs Council, the NAO, CSOs and project implementing partners3. The evaluation period, as agreed with the EUD during the inception period, is 25 April 2017 to 31 December 2020.