Project Overview
RSIL was contracted by the Aitebaar Programme – a subsidiary of Coffey International – for upgrading the legal and regulatory framework relating to criminal probation in the Province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The project was funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), UK and required working with the Directorate of Reclamation & Probation (DRP), Home & Tribal Affairs Department, Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
In the first stage of the project, RSIL was required to completely revise and upgrade the legislative framework relating to criminal probation in the province. RSIL approached this task by first developing a well-structured scoping note that included inter alia, the purpose, research design, research methodology and limitations applicable to research.
This was followed by the development of a comprehensive report on behalf of the Home Department, Government of KP which served as a White Paper by analysing the existing legal framework, identified lacunas and presented detailed legislative and administrative suggestions for reform.
Based on this report, RSIL drafted a Probation Bill which is meant to replace the existing Probation of Offenders Ordinance, 1960. This was followed by the development of detailed implementing Rules which are meant to replace the existing Probation of Offenders Rules of 1961.
RSIL also helped draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) on the handling of juveniles and coordination between criminal justice sectors in probation related matters.
At each stage of this process, the RSIL team provided detailed briefings to the KP Home Secretary and his team. The report, Bill and Rules were drafted based on extensive feedback from government officials at all tiers in multiple stakeholder workshops over an 18-month period between April 2015 – October 2016.
Project Outcomes
RSIL’s proposals were very well received by all stakeholders throughout the duration of this project. The RSIL team remained available for follow-up meetings and presentations well after the completion of the project, familiarising incoming senior officials and officers-in-charge in the Home Department, Law Department and Advocate General’s Office following each reshuffle in the provincial bureaucracy. RSIL’s efforts resulted in DFID awarding this project an A++ (Outcome Substantially Exceeded Expectation) score in its Annual Project Completion Review.
The SOP’s drafted by RSIL were implemented by the KP Home Secretary in September, 2016. The Probation Bill is currently pending before the provincial cabinet, after having been vetted by the Law Department, Advocate General’s Office and approved by the Home Department.
