[{"bbox": [96, 152, 1136, 446], "category": "Text", "text": "The different areas that this Action will be looking into are: i) ensuring greater independence of the judiciary, which also has a direct impact on the business environment; ii) better aligning Mongolian legislation with international commitments and further translating these commitments into domestic law; iii) supporting Mongolia in implementing recommendations from international treaty monitoring bodies, as well as the OSCE and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR); iv) advocating for a better business environment that will guarantee a level playing field and attract more green investments in the country; v) integrating a human-rights based and gender responsive approach in application of the law/enforcement of decisions and working for a judicial gender sector policy (in line with the EU Gender Action Plan III (GAP III)³ objective on advancing equal participation and leadership); vi) strengthening capacity of duty bearers in the justice sector inter alia to improve legal drafting, implement international conventions at court level; vii) supporting the digitalisation of court system as means of increasing the equal accessibility, accountability and transparency of the justice system for all citizens."}, {"bbox": [96, 456, 1136, 617], "category": "Text", "text": "The Action is following the priorities set under the EU Multi-Annual Indicative Programme for Mongolia (2021-2027), and specifically priority area 2 on \"Democratic and Economic Development\" (DAC code - 151). It aims to reach most of the expected results identified under specific objective 2.1: Effective implementation of justice reform. The priority areas that had been proposed in the MIP and that will be followed through this Action are aligned with the priorities set by Mongolia in its long term development plan Vision 2050 and the mutually agreed action points following the 2022 EU-Mongolia Joint Committee."}, {"bbox": [96, 627, 1136, 842], "category": "Text", "text": "The priority areas are also based on the reported shortcomings⁴ in the judiciary system: insufficient funding, political involvement and arbitrary decisions on the selection, appointment, and dismissal of judges. The proposed objectives aim to address these issues by improving the efficiency and credibility, performance and capacity of the justice system adopting a human rights-based and gender-sensitive approach. Supporting the rule of law in a region where democracy is rare is aligned with the EU's global interests elaborated in the EU action plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024, as well as with the Human Rights and Democracy Country Strategy (2021-2024), and with SDG 16 to 'provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels' and SDG 5 on 'gender equality' in alignment with GAP III)."}, {"bbox": [85, 882, 324, 914], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 2 RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [85, 947, 236, 975], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [96, 993, 1136, 1128], "category": "Text", "text": "Mongolia is a lower-middle-income resource-rich democracy of 3.3 million people landlocked between Russia and China. Traditionally, Mongolia tries to balance the dominance of these two neighbours by also cultivating close relations with “third neighbours”, including the European Union (EU). This “Third Neighbour Policy” is gaining geopolitical importance with the polarisation of relations between Russia/China and the other major players in the international community."}, {"bbox": [96, 1138, 1136, 1326], "category": "Text", "text": "In the past thirty years, social and economic life in Mongolia have changed rapidly, and so has legislation. One of the key issues hindering Mongolia's continued growth is the lack of capacity in the justice sector. Many challenges, such as inefficiency, irregularity, and weak accountability structures, are the result of outdated legal education, lack of trainings, and a lack of consistency in court decisions regarding the application of laws. These have proven to be counterproductive in the face of fast-changing legislation, international commitments, and steadily rising court cases. Moreover, these challenges have contributed to the erosion of public confidence in the legal system, and a widely held perception that the judiciary is corrupt and lacking in independence."}, {"bbox": [96, 1336, 1136, 1444], "category": "Text", "text": "Corruption is widely perceived to have worsened in recent years, particularly with respect to state involvement in the mining sector through State Owned Enterprises. Mongolia fell 6 spots in Transparency International's corruption index and was rated 116th out of 180 countries for the year 2022. Protests took place in December 2022/January 2023 and protesters called for accountability over alleged coal embezzlement by officials worth EUR"}, {"bbox": [85, 1502, 1145, 1625], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³ The Gender Action Plan III is a Joint communication by the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy which was welcomed through EU Presidency Conclusions of 16 December 2020. Drafting was led by European Commission in close consultation with EU Member States, EEAS, civil society organisations, partner governments, and international organisations (UN entities, International Finance Institutions among others). The different parties contributed to the drafting of the document through meetings and through responses to a survey conducted during the process"}, {"bbox": [85, 1624, 913, 1647], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁴ https://www.oecd.org/corruption/acn/OECD-ACN-Mongolia-4th-Round-Monitoring-Report-2019-ENG.pdf"}, {"bbox": [1037, 1681, 1145, 1707], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 30"}]