Broken Links
How can open data help shine a light on political corruption and make political systems fairer and more inclusive? How can we further link people and data to create a chain of accountability? Explore our new report.
Access to Justice
People regularly face legal problems, such as discrimination in receiving public services, eviction threats, employment disputes, and gender-based violence. According to one estimate, about 1.5 billion people worldwide had unresolved justice problems in 2019. Unclear rules, complex processes, high costs, and discrimination in justice systems exclude many from accessing justice. To address these issues, people need the capacity to understand their legal problems and seek help through fair and impartial processes. Open government measures can ensure efforts to increase access to justice are responsive to people’s needs, by transforming justice systems to center people’s justice needs and focusing on fair outcomes.
Open Gov Challenge: Justice
With OGP’s 2023-2028 Strategy, OGP members are set to work toward a number of aspirational thematic reforms through the Open Gov Challenge. This section of the Open Gov Guide addresses Justice.
Challenge prompt: Advance people-centered justice reforms.
Actions and reforms that fit within the scope of this challenge area are:
- Embed or institutionalize mechanisms for participatory and inclusive approaches to justice policy and service design, for the purpose of ensuring that everyone has appropriate access to legal services.
- Strengthen the independence, transparency and responsiveness of justice institutions to the public.
- Ensure that there is accountability for policymaking through appropriate and effective redress mechanisms and institutions that involve the public (e.g. whistleblower protections, right to information appeals, complaint mechanisms.)
Definitions for key terms such as access to justice.
- Access to justice: Access to justice is a component of the rule of law where individuals and communities with legal needs know where to go for help, obtain the help they need, and move through a system that offers procedural, substantive, and expeditious justice without undue cost or harm. Access to justice also includes the ability of people to resolve and prevent their own justice problems, and to use justice as a platform to participate in their economies and societies.
The Evidence
Improving access to justice through people-centered approaches helps people and communities.
- Increasing access to justice helps reduce inequality. Examples include providing legal representation for disadvantaged groups (especially in asylum cases) and financial assistance to pay fines.
- Investing in more judges and legal representation has helped governments save money. It can help prevent the worst consequences—like bankruptcy, violence, and homelessness—when people cannot resolve their justice needs. This is especially true for pro bono legal services, which can contribute to both economic growth and government savings.
- Expanding the type, number and reach of justice services has been shown to reduce conflict, which can result in economic returns of USD $16 for every $1 invested.
The recommendations below represent reforms that national and local governments, representatives of civil society organizations, and others can consider for their action plans and the Open Gov Challenge. The reforms are categorized according to OGP’s principal values: transparency, civic participation, and public accountability. Reforms should be adapted to fit the domestic context, and involve and coordinate with other levels and branches of government.
Reforms across policy areas are also tagged by the estimated degree of difficulty in implementation. Though progress is often not linear, the recommendations have been categorized using these labels to give the reader a sense of how different reforms can work together to raise the ambition of open government approaches.
Recommended Reforms Key
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Transparency: Transparency empowers citizens to exercise their rights, hold the government accountable, and participate in decision-making processes. Examples of relevant activities include the proactive or reactive publication of government-held information, legal or institutional frameworks to strengthen the right to access information, and disclosing information using open data standards.
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Civic Participation: When people are engaged, governments and public institutions are more responsive, innovative, and effective. Examples of relevant initiatives include new or improved processes and mechanisms for the public to contribute to decisions, participatory mechanisms to involve underrepresented groups in policy making, and a legal environment that guarantees civil and political rights.
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Public Accountability: Public accountability occurs when public institutions must justify their actions, act upon requirements and criticisms, and take responsibility for failure to perform according to laws or commitments. Importantly, public accountability means that members of the public can also access and trigger accountability mechanisms. Examples of relevant activities include citizen audits of performance, new or improved mechanisms or institutions that respond to citizen-initiated appeals processes, and improved access to justice.
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Inclusion: Inclusion is fundamental to achieving more equitable, representative, and accountable policies that truly serve all people. This includes increasing the voice, agency, and influence of historically discriminated or underrepresented groups. Depending on the context, traditionally underrepresented groups may experience discrimination based on gender, sexual identity, race, ethnicity, age, geography, differing ability, legal, or socioeconomic status.
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Foundational: This tag is used for reforms that are the essential building blocks of a policy area. “Foundational” does not mean low ambition or low impact. These recommendations often establish basic legal frameworks and institutional structures.
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Intermediate: This tag is used for reforms that are complex and often involve coordination and outreach between branches, institutions, and levels of government, with the public or between countries.
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Advanced: This tag is used for reforms that close important loopholes to make existing work more effective and impactful. Specifically, “Advanced” reforms are particularly ambitious, innovative or close important loopholes to make existing work more effective, impactful or sustainable. They are often applied in mature environments where they seek to institutionalize a good practice that has already shown results.
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Executive: The executive branch of government is responsible for designing, implementing, and enforcing laws, policies, and initiatives. It is typically led by the head of state or government, such as a president or prime minister, along with their appointed cabinet members. The executive branch’s functions also include overseeing the day-to-day operations of the government, managing foreign affairs, and directing the country’s armed forces. In democratic systems, the executive branch is accountable to the legislature and the electorate, with its powers and limitations outlined in the constitution or legal framework of the respective country.
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Legislative: The legislative branch of government is responsible for making laws and regulations and overseeing the functioning of the government. It typically consists of a body of elected representatives, such as a parliament, congress, or assembly, which is tasked with proposing, debating, amending, and ultimately passing legislation. The legislative branch plays a crucial role in representing the interests of the people, as its members are elected to office by the public. In addition to law-making, this branch often holds the power to levy taxes, allocate funds, and conduct certain investigations into matters of public concern. The structure and powers of the legislative branch are usually outlined in a country’s constitution or legal framework, and it serves as a check on the executive and judicial branches to ensure a system of checks and balances within a state.
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Judicial: The judicial branch of government is responsible for interpreting the meaning of laws, applying laws to individual cases, and/or deciding if any laws violate the Constitution or other governing document in a country. The responsibilities will vary depending on the jurisdiction and level of a given court within this branch. The judicial branch usually oversees various parts of the formal judicial system, such as the rules governing the conduct of prosecutors, the creation of ethics standards and sanctions for judges, and the management of the legal aid system, including the work of paralegals. However, in many countries, the executive branch oversees the law enforcement bodies.
Examples of Reforms from OGP and Beyond
The following examples are commitments previously made within or beyond OGP that demonstrate elements of the recommendations made above. Justice reforms have been increasingly popular within OGP, with half of all action plans dealing with justice in some respect.
OGP Reforms
ALBANIA Legal Services Awareness Campaign: Committed to expanding access to justice by raising awareness of laws and services, such as free legal aid, and providing services in sign language.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA Simple Language Versions of Legal Documents: Created the JusLab initiative to increase transparency and understandability of legal documents, especially court decisions.
COLOMBIA Web Portal on Justice Information: Launched a web portal and mobile application called LegalApp to make it easier for the public to access information on justice services.
INDONESIA Accommodations for Persons with Disabilities: Passed regulations to implement accommodations for persons with disabilities in the Supreme Court and correctional institutions. Committed to passing regulations for these accommodations for the Attorney General’s Office.
MEXICO STATE, MEXICO Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms: Committed to improving the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms for everyday conflicts.
NORTH MACEDONIA Legal Aid for Marginalized Groups: Committed to building on previous work to expand access to justice for marginalized groups, such as free legal aid services.- TLALNEPANTLA DE BAZ, MEXICO Legislation on Rural Justice Access: Committed to drafting legislation creating mobile justice mechanisms for remote areas, a proactive legal aid system, and the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Beyond OGP Action Plans
KENYA National Policy on Alternative Justice Systems (AJS): Passed a national policy on AJS in 2020 based on a study of existing traditional or informal justice systems in the country. Through OGP, committed to implementing the policy, such as by allocating funding and piloting AJS programs to train legal aid lawyers and provide support for low-income people facing justice issues.
SOUTH AFRICA Survey to Collect Access to Justice Data: Expanded its annual crime survey to capture access to justice data on a three-year cycle, such as the types of legal problems people face, their experiences in resolving these problems, and the resources they accessed to do so.
The Role of Local Governments
Many of the most basic legal services are carried out at the local level. Often, provinces or states provide licenses for legal practices and establish the financial structure for legal services, through grants, pro bono services, or non-profit or public activities.
Just as importantly, in many countries, local courts and other dispute resolution processes are primarily local. They have specialized knowledge and are rooted in the community, often dealing with family law, employment, housing, and discrimination issues. Beyond courts, other parts of the justice system, such as public defenders and legal services, are often devolved to local actors as well.
Colombia’s “Justice in your neighborhood” initiative shows how people-centered justice solutions can help protect vulnerable groups. Colombia’s local governments hold public “justice fairs” in underserved communities. The program specifically targets communities with high concentrations of immigrant or refugee populations, high rates of human rights violations or violence, and high levels of vulnerability.
Who is working on this topic?
A
Albania
Argentina
B
Brazil
Burkina Faso
C
Cabo Verde
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Contagem, Brazil
Costa Rica
Croatia
D
Denmark
E
Ecuador
F
France
G
Georgia
Ghana
Greece
H
Honduras
I
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
J
Jamaica
Jordan
K
Kenya
L
La Libertad, Peru
Liberia
M
Malta
Mexico
Mexico State, Mexico
Mongolia
Montenegro
N
Netherlands
Nigeria
North Macedonia
P
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
R
Republic Of Korea
Romania
S
Senegal
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Spain
T
Tlalnepantla De Baz, Mexico
U
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
This list reflects members with commitments in the “Access to Justice” policy area of the Data Dashboard.
The following organizations have recently worked on this issue in the context of OGP at the national or international level. They may have additional insights on the topic. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are interested in national-level initiatives, please contact research@opengovpartnership.org.
- Namati
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)—Office for Access to Justice
- Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies
- Penal Reform International
- The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL)
- The International Legal Foundation
- United States Agency for International Development (USAID) — Center for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance
The OGP 2023-2028 Strategy sets out the Open Gov Challenge and aims to provide clear benchmarks for performance through reliable data.
While benchmarks for individual countries and Open Gov Guide recommendations are not yet integrated, for this chapter, interested individuals may rely on the following data sets:
- The World Justice Project‘s Rule of Law Index analyzes different dimensions of governance in 140 countries and jurisdictions, with specific indicators related to access to civil and criminal justice.
- OGP commitments on this topic can be found on the Data Dashboard.
Guidance & Standards
While the list below is not exhaustive, it aims to provide a range of recommendations, standards, and analysis to guide reform in this policy area.
- The OGP Support Unit curated a list of recommendations, in addition to lessons from reformers and other key data related to access to justice, as part of its Justice Policy Series.
- The Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies (Pathfinders) published a foundational analysis of access to justice issues in its Justice for All report, which proposes a people-centered approach to increase access to justice in line with Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Pathfinders also published briefs on the justice response to the pandemic in terms of the resulting public health emergency and economic crisis, as well as on how courts globally are embracing justice innovations.
- The OECD published a framework for implementing people-centered approaches to increasing access to justice. The OECD Council also recently adopted a set of recommendations on access to justice and people-centered justice systems.
- A joint report from UN Women, International Development Law Organization, UN Development Programme, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Bank, and Pathfinders, supported by the Elders, gathers available data and puts forth recommendations to accelerate action and increase justice for women.
- Namati, a legal empowerment organization, lays out Six Recommendations for Advancing Justice for All on the 10th anniversary of the Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor. In addition, with the broader Justice for All campaign, Namati published two useful resources: Grassroots Justice in a Pandemic: Ensuring a Just Response and Recovery and Providing Legal Services Remotely.
- The Council of Europe created a framework on how to measure access to justice, with a specific focus on capturing the gender-specific challenges women face.
- The Open Society Justice Initiative and The Engine Room published a review of how legal empowerment actors worldwide are using technology to give people information about the law, connect them with legal advice, and provide them with legal services. It includes examples that can be taken up as models by other countries.
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