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The Partnership of the Caribbean and the European Union on Justice (PACE Justice)

EU-LAC Partnership on Justice and Security

Workshop Opening PACE Justice Ambassador Tassin
© UNDP/Andrew Bisnath/ 2026

Duration: March 2023 to March 2027

EU Contribution: EUR 9.75 million, with co-financing of EUR 560,000 (total EUR 10.31 million), financed under the 11th European Development Fund

Location: Multi-country programme covering eight CARIFORUM Member States: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago

Implementing partner: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Development Challenge

A 2020 UNDP Judicial Needs Assessment of nine Caribbean countries found that access to justice is being undermined across the region by delays within several key stages of the criminal justice process, resulting in major backlogs of cases. These backlogs arise from pervasive human and technological resource and capacity constraints, which create significant bottlenecks in the work of the justice sector.

The backlogs contribute directly to worryingly high numbers of prisoners held on remand for extended periods, and they increase overall incarceration rates in a region where those rates are already among the highest in the world. PACE Justice responds to this challenge with a regional, system-wide approach to strengthening the criminal justice chain.

Overview

The programme's ultimate objective is to enhance the institutional capacities of prosecutors, courts, police and prisons in the Caribbean to manage criminal cases effectively and efficiently. UNDP and its partners deliver interventions along three well-defined but strongly connected dimensions: deploying enabling technology and systems training to improve the efficiency of criminal justice administration; empowering stakeholders through gender-aware capacity building across all elements of the administration of justice, with a focus on service design and delivery; and strengthening national and regional processes and procedures for improved efficiency and accountability.

Cross-Sectoral Approach

Justice system reform requires coordination and collaboration among the various agencies and institutions to mitigate the effect of potentially conflicting approaches to the causes of the backlog. Aligning or federating information management systems across each stage of the process, from police to prosecutors, defence counsel to courts, and courts to prisons, through data exchange and integration, allows for a systematic approach. Under this system-wide model, the line between institution-specific outcomes and overall performance is deliberately blurred, with greater appreciation for the interdependencies across the justice chain.

Key Outputs and Activities

The programme outcome is improved universal access to justice in the Caribbean, delivered through three outputs.

Output 1 — Technology and Infrastructure Systems Enhanced. 

  • Activity 1.1: technology and equipment procured, deployed and operationalised to facilitate case, court and inmate management, and to strengthen infrastructure resilience.
  • Activity 1.2: purpose-developed software for police, courts and prisons designed, tested and scaled across the region, with interoperability as a primary function.

Output 2 — Empowered Stakeholders and Enhanced Capacities. 

  • Activity 2.1: training and upskilling at all levels of the justice system.
  • Activity 2.2: specialised support for victims and witnesses and for the rehabilitation of offenders.
  • Activity 2.3: public awareness raising on access to justice and legal rights.

Output 3 — Processes, Procedures and Coordination Improved. 

  • Activity 3.1: technical assistance for the development and deployment of rules and standards across the continuum of justice administration.
  • Activity 3.2: national and regional coordination frameworks developed and strengthened around strategic planning, case management and monitoring and evaluation.

Partnerships

The programme works closely with key stakeholders in the criminal justice system, including DPP Offices, police, legal aid, prisons and courts in each country. Implementation facilitates knowledge exchange and capacity building with civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, National Gender Machineries, Bar Associations, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and the Caribbean Court of Justice. Youth and women's organisations are consulted in implementation and monitoring to ensure a gender lens on training and decisions, particularly for procedures such as investigations of intimate partner violence and the treatment of vulnerable witnesses. The programme aligns with existing initiatives on criminal law and justice administration to avoid duplication and promote efficient use of resources.

Policy Alignment

The programme aligns with the New Agenda for Relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, the CARICOM Secretariat Strategic Plan 2022-2030, and the EU Strategy and Action Plan on Citizen Security in Central America and the Caribbean.

Contribution to the SDGs

The programme contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Expected Objectives and Results

Objective: To enhance the institutional capacities of prosecutors, courts, police and prisons in the Caribbean to manage criminal cases effectively and efficiently, improving universal access to justice across the region.