People-centered Justice: Putting People’s Needs and Wants at the Heart of Rule of Law Programming

What do people need and what do people want when they seek justice? These questions are the starting point for a new approach to justice – a people-centered approach to justice. 

People-centered justice was the theme of the 2022 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Access to Justice Roundtable hosted on September 21-22 in Riga, Latvia, and attended by Laura Milne, ABA ROLI’s Country Director for Jordan. Co-hosted by the OECD and the Ministry of Justice of Latvia, the Roundtable brought together government and non-government representatives to discuss how best to advance people-centered justice through the implementation of the OECD Framework and Good Practices Principles on People-centered Justice. The Roundtable’s agenda allowed for a wide variety of speakers to share their experiences and expertise on designing and advancing people-centered justice—ranging from digital transformation in Australia to early dispute resolution intervention in Japan and legal empowerment activities in Thailand.

Over the past 60 years, rule of law programming has focused primarily on justice providers and institutions, training judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and law enforcement. This “top-down” approach to development has experienced several challenges. In 2021, for the fourth consecutive year, more countries declined than improved in overall rule of law performance. 

Authoritarianism is on the rise, with 60 countries experiencing democratic declines over the past year. National and international institutions whose mandate is to promote and protect human rights are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation and corruption. People-centered justice is an approach that demands rule of law practitioners take these impacts into account as they pause, reflect, and transform programming to put a focus on peoples’ justice needs and wants, and which prioritizes evidence, collaboration, investment, and rebuilding trust in justice institutions.  

The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) implements rule of law programming in countries suffering the effects of authoritarianism and weak rule of law. It is in this context that ABA ROLI welcomes the people-centered justice approach, which reflects many existing ABA ROLI practices but also offers new opportunities to strengthen the impact of our programming. The OECD Framework and Good Practice Principles on People-centered Justice provides extensive guidance to practitioners on how to support the design, establishment, and maintenance of people-centered services. In order to provide people-centered justice services, services should be tailored to meet the varying needs of diverse groups and based on evidence of the people's legal, and justice needs. Basic examples of this at ABA ROLI could include making materials available in local languages, raising awareness through oral materials in places with lower literacy rates, providing childcare particularly when activities take place during the workday, and holding events in locations accessible to people of varying ability, among others.

By proactively identifying and addressing the root causes of legal issues, people-centered justice services can both prevent larger issues from arising and resolve them as they arise. A people-centered approach to justice should also build people’s legal capabilities and seek to enable their meaningful participation in the justice system, which will also contribute to the overall efficacy of justice processes and outcomes. Justice services should be part of an integrated system of services that can be readily accessed by all. To evolve and meet these changing needs, people-centered justice services must constantly strive to improve through evaluation, evidence-based learning, and the development and sharing of best practices. ABA ROLI embraces a culture of learning through participatory weekly, quarterly, midterm, and final learning presentations, “pause and reflect” sessions, midterm learning activities and/or evaluations, and final evaluations.

ABA ROLI is implementing a ‘people-centered justice’ approach across its programs. In the Central African Republic, ABA ROLI partnered with local organizations and community leaders in the cities of Bangui, Bangassou, Berberati, Bouar, and Bimbo to meet people where they are with dispute resolution and justice services. Mobile legal aid clinics travelled to remote areas and provided legal aid services to over 1,200 people and delivered legal education talks for communities in various locations, such as schools and markets. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ABA ROLI developed and implemented an electronic Judicial Database to support digital transformation of the Congolese justice system. The Database contains electronic copies of court records and is being used by judicial officials across the country. In the Philippines, ABA ROLI helped with court-decongestion efforts by advancing the use of alternative dispute resolution and developing mobile applications for the public that provide information on court proceedings and procedures. In Jordan, ABA has supported the provision of integrated, individualized, and trauma-informed services to survivors of gender-based violence. Through its partners, 381 survivors of gender-based violence were provided psychosocial support and access to legal services, medical care, and counseling. 

In the face of ongoing threats to rule of law and access to justice, ABA ROLI will continue to support advancements in people-centered justice through its programming and partnerships. This work is now more urgent than ever if we are to prevent and find sustainable solutions to the world’s justice problems while continuing in our efforts to provide tailored, quality legal services to people in need.