A/HRC/20/35 20. Indeed, apart from his own ex officio powers, the President of the Court of Cassation is the keystone of justice system reform. He presides over the High Council of the Judiciary and can therefore initiate the programme for the certification and recruitment of judges. He also presides over the Governing Board of the Legal Service Training College. 21. The Independent Expert welcomes the decision made by President Martelly to appoint the President of the Court of Cassation in October 2011, which he supplemented with the appointment of four judges in February 2012. The 11 judges have held their first general assembly, formed the two section chambers and joint chambers, decided on their working days and elected a representative to the High Council of the Judiciary. During his first meeting with the President of the Court, the Independent Expert was able to see the seriousness and determination with which the judges were playing their part in restoring credibility to the Haitian Judiciary. High Council of the Judiciary 22. At the time of writing, the Minister of Justice and Public Security had announced the end of the certification process for the members of the High Council of the Judiciary, opening the way for this new entity to be established and begin operation as an administrative body for oversight, discipline and decision-making in the judicial branch. As part of the process to establish the members of the High Council of the Judiciary in their posts and to ensure its operation, the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Cassation have also established three technical committees to work on ways of transferring knowledge, the budget and the headquarters to the High Council of the Judiciary. 23. The Independent Expert has welcomed this news, and remains hopeful that the High Council of the Judiciary will be operational by the time this report is presented, and that, regarding funding for reconstruction work in particular, it will have competent staff and the funding required for it to operate with absolute independence, and to recruit judges without interference from the executive branch. 24. The Legal Service Training College held its first competitive examination to recruit candidates for initial training as judges, with strong support from the international community. Some 20 judges were recruited by competitive examination to the Legal Service Training College and were trained in France, where they received theoretical training and completed placements at various courts before receiving their diplomas and returning to Haiti. At the time of writing, these 20 young judges had not yet been appointed to courts. 25. The Legal Service Training College also aims to have a body of permanent teaching staff trained in pedagogy. For the first time, six judges were recruited to receive training in France on developing teaching sequences and directing study programmes, which will make it possible for a new training for trainers programme to be introduced in Haiti. 26. As part of a renovation project financed by MINUSTAH, the library of the Legal Service Training College has been transformed into a modern documentation centre. The building now not only houses the library, but also a lecture hall, a computer room, three administrative offices, an archive room and a functions room that can receive around 100 persons and service as a conference facility. GE.12-13208 7