“Whenever we have to face a complex problem, we turn to scientific research.” Such a suggestion was shared this Wednesday by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, during the meeting that dealt with the System of Science, Technology and Innovation in the system of the Ministry of Justice.
What it is about is achieving a mentality that is prepared to ponder scientific research as a path that can give applicable results, which become innovation and lead to development. This was expressed by the Head of State in a meeting that was also chaired, from the Palace of the Revolution, by the Member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz.
The main speech at the meeting was made by Oscar Silvera Martínez, Minister of Justice of Cuba, who stated that “these times of great complexity always require science and technology to better understand the problems we have.” That is, he said, a concept “that we have defended”, because, “we tend to be very superficial, very epidermal in identifying problems; and then, of course, when we lack depth, analysis, research, then we are very ineffective in proposing solutions».
In an exhibition that portrayed how the Ministry of Justice works today, its head alluded to the institution’s strengths, such as the Center for Legal Research, which projects, organizes and executes scientific research in all branches of Law and in other applied sciences. He also mentioned the Technical Advisory Council as a very useful tool; and he made reference to the scientific potential of the ministry system, which, he assessed, is still insufficient.
Green light to the young
Oscar Silvera Martínez stated at the meeting that the system of the Ministry of Justice has in itself, as a strength, the presence of a hundred young people who received gold titles when they graduated from their university studies: «Of them, 92 are in our territorial structures . And it must be recognized that for some time now the number of young graduates (with those qualities) aspires and opts for the system of the Ministry of Justice is growing.
The Cuban President was interested in how many young people hold responsibilities, and how many do not, in the ministry system; and he spoke about the importance of promoting them: “These are things that we have to incorporate into our work concepts —he pointed out—; Young graduates arrive, they all have to be attended to, they all have to be trained, to distinguish among them the gold titles because they are the ones with, supposedly, the most potential».
The dignitary spoke of working with that group: “Life later says if they develop, if they don’t, but that is where the ministry’s cadres pool is, and the country’s cadres pool fundamentally.”
“In the last balances in which we have been, in the Ministry (of Justice), young people have stood out,” said Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, who affirmed that the institution has a policy in this regard, “but we have to perfect it”, because “many of these young people can hold responsibilities in the ministry, but they can also hold other responsibilities at the country level, at the territorial level”.
One of the ways in which politics is expressed, recalled the Head of State, is through the exercise of Law: «If our Law is applied well, there is confidence in politics, politics is defended; if we do it wrong, we lose credibility.” He highlighted this idea because the world is telling us that solutions involve multidisciplinary and intersectoral knowledge, and “specialists, experts in Law, are going to have possibilities and are necessary in all the things we are going to do.”
Other strengths of the ministry system
The Ministry of Justice has its Branch School in the phase of approval and completion of its structure; Within the system of that cardinal institution for Cuba, the creation of notarial units in the Universities has been encouraged, and 16 doctors who work as professors are qualified as notaries.
Oscar Silvera Martínez mentioned such efforts; and also recalled that the ministry has responsibilities with the implementation of the policy for the improvement of the registry system; with the Macroprogram of «Government, Institutionality and Macroeconomics»; as well as with the “Observance and protection of the Constitution and rights” Project.
The Ministry of Justice is also linked to the National Program for the Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change; to the research project associated with the exercise and defense of the rights of children and adolescents in Cuban legal traffic; and develops collaboration projects with Vietnam, Austria and Spain, related to the management of public records and their computerization.
Similarly, as detailed by the head, the Ministry of Justice is inserted in the National Program of Science and Technology of Telecommunications and Computerization of Society, while playing an important role in the implementation of the legislative schedule. Regarding the latter, Silvera Martínez said that from 2019 to date, 19 Laws and 75 Decree Laws have been approved. “The process of creating regulations —she emphasized— has a scientific foundation because it investigates and deepens the issues that are regulated. ».
Structural innovations, and others associated with processes, were also discussed by the minister, who, in relation to the latter, mentioned, among others, the implementation of the Platform for the Registry of Civil Status and attention to the population; the improvement and computerization of the Real Estate Property Registry; the computerization of internal processes; and the development and implementation of various mobile applications (APK).
Towards the end of the meeting, President Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said: “From what the minister has explained, there is a will in the ministry, and there is an organizational, structural intention to promote innovation.”
“Why are we betting on this?” asked the president, later affirming that “science and innovation can constitute a pillar in government management: we have demonstrated this based on the country’s historical tradition, where political thought , where scientific thought has always had a unity based on the requirements of the governing documents of the last congresses of the Communist Party».
“What the nation’s vision requires,” Diaz-Canel pointed out, is the option to innovate, “and that requires a lot of knowledge management, a lot of research.”
The Cuban President shared this certainty: “We can defend Government Management based on Science and Innovation; which implies that all public institutions —and among them the Organisms of the Central Administration of the State, our business system, and the territories— have to gradually design their systems».
