Students from different universities in the country participated in the "Hackatón Justicia al Día 2023", organized by the Laboratory of Innovation for Justice of the National School of the Judiciary (LabENJ), with the purpose of solving real problems of the Dominican justice system and fostering new skills in the participants.
In this alliance between LabENJ and the universities Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), Pontificia Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), Católica Santo Domingo (UCSD), del Caribe (UNICARIBE), Organización y Métodos (O&M) and Tecnológica de Santiago (UTESA), students from various courses of study were challenged to innovate services and propose improvements to the justice administration system in order to improve services to users.
Justice Samuel Arias Arzeno, judge of the Supreme Court of Justice, speaking on behalf of the jury, highlighted the contribution of the students who participated in the contest, and said that this is an enriching experience, while encouraging them to continue working to have an increasingly agile justice system.
The welcoming remarks were made by the deputy director of the ENJ, Johanny Castillo Sabarí, who said that the purpose of the meeting is to create an academic space in which to share and exchange knowledge, while thanking the universities and the professors for holding the contest.
This second edition is held within the framework of ENJ's 25th Anniversary and addresses challenges in the areas of user service, online dispute resolution and advertising.
The theme of the contest was addressed by José Fernando Torres Varela, an expert in Legal Design at Stanford University, who explained that the idea is for students to begin to look at problems in a holistic manner so that at the end of the classes they can identify prototype applications or solutions.
The "Justice a Day Hackathon" classes lasted 11 weeks and aimed to strengthen ties with the ENJ.
Winners
The group with the topic Alternative Methods for Online Dispute Resolution won first place, made up of students Jovanny Manuel Núñez Arias, Carmen Nathalia Henández Pimentel, Estefanía Ventura Desir, Gloris Mercedes Acosta Rodríguez, Nicole Mejía, Starlyn Peña and María Marte Sánchez.
The group with the theme Design of services for the judicial system won second place, made up of students Edra Gutiérrez Guzmán, Ramón González Mirabal, Mercy Abigail Durán, Nicolainy Upia Martínez and Perla Figuereo Reyes.
The topic Publicity and communication of tools and services of the judicial system won third place, and was made up of young people Gerónimo de Paula de los Santos, José Enesto Lagombra, Karla Cabrera Pinales, Isabel Mateo Reynoso and Miguelina Lajara Vásquez.
The Jury
The jury was headed by Magistrate Samuel Arias Arzeno, Magistrate Juan Sabino Ramos, presiding judge of the Court for Children and Adolescents of the Judicial Department of San Pedro de Macorís and member of the Board of Directors of the ENJ; Javier Cabreja Polanco, general coordinator of Communications and Public Affairs of the Judicial Branch; and Welvis Beltrán Matos, director of Information and Communication Technologies of the Judicial Branch.
Judges, managers and judicial coordinators served as tutors to the participants. Their work will be recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals.
The contest aims to rethink justice from the point of view of the common citizen to make it more accessible, and that from their different areas students contribute new ideas to solve problems and help transform justice.
This "Hackathon" day is part of the Strategic Plan Vision Justice 20/24, in the axis of the Timely and Efficient Judicial Service, which presents proposals focused on the needs of the users of the system.
