Innovative Approaches to Evaluating Citizen-Led Rule of Law Initiatives in Ukraine

Goal: This project combines a utilization-focused evaluation approach with a randomized field experiment to assess the effectiveness of a novel citizen-led strategy for improving judicial transparency and the rule of law: the videotaping and online archiving of court hearings. In collaboration with an Ukrainian non-governmental organization, the Open Courts Project – a pioneer in the use of videotaping as a transparency initiative – we will examine whether citizen monitoring of court hearings can improve judges’ and prosecutors' adherence to procedural rules and lawyers’ perceptions of the judiciary’s fairness and independence. The randomized field experiment focuses on pre-trial detention hearings with the aim of curtailing widespread human rights abuses resulting from the incarceration of defendants without due process. Meanwhile, utilization-focused evaluation approaches will be employed to engage a wide variety of local stakeholders in the evaluation process. This will increase the utility of the data gathered and enhance stakeholders' ability to use the study findings to effect change. Primary intended users for the evaluation will participate in the design of the randomized field experiment, interpretation of the experiment’s results, and development of strategies for disseminating and utilizing the findings that go beyond written reports. Key stakeholders will include non-governmental organizations, activists, lawyers, law students, local researchers, judges, and the public at large. The project will be organized around four objectives: Objective 1: Engage stakeholders and primary intended users of citizen-led rule of law initiatives to improve the design of the randomized field experiment, maximize the utility of the study’s findings, and develop the capacity of local researchers to engage in program evaluations. Objective 2: Increase transparency in the Ukrainian judicial system by expanding an ongoing citizen-led initiative to vi