Category International

Report on UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 Explores Power of Digitalization

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The goal of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 is to: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. A new report, published this month, explores the potential of digitalization to help create a more just, inclusive and sustainable world.

The SDG 16: Through a Digital Lens report seeks to examine the ways in which the move towards digitalization intersects with the pursuit of peace, justice and strong institutions. It highlights the importance of considering digital enablers, and outlines a vision for ensuring that digital transformation aids, rather than impedes, progress towards SDG 16.

Topics explored in the report include:

  • Universal connectivity and the digital divide
  • Legal identity
  • Illicit financial flows and their digital enablers
  • Impacts of online disinformation and misinformation
  • Perspectives on conflict in the digital space
  • Moving forward (digital social contracts, responsive and people-centred digital governance, other issues)

SDG 16: Through a Digital Lens was prepared by David Andersson for the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute. The report is available in English here: https://unicri.it/sites/default/files/2023-11/SDG%2016%20%20Report_web.pdf.

Ibero-American Alliance Publishes First Report on Access to Justice

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The Ibero-American Alliance brings together justice stakeholders from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and Andorra to support better people-centered justice in the Ibero-American region. Formally established in 2022, the alliance recently announced the publication of its first joint report. The Report on Access to Justice in Ibero-America provides important insights into the state of access to justice in Ibero-America and ongoing efforts within the region’s justice ecosystem to improve access to justice for all.

The report highlights work being carried out in three key areas:

  • Data and innovation;
  • An action plan and regional framework for access to justice;
  • Efforts to leave no one behind, including efforts aimed at helping women and girls, youth, the LGBTQI+ community, ethnic and religious minorities, migrants and refugees and others

The 2023 Report on Access to Justice in Ibero-America is available in English here: https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Report-on-Access-to-Justice-in-Ibero-America-2023-EN.pdf

The 2023 Report on Access to Justice in Ibero-America is available in Spanish here: https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Report-on-Access-to-Justice-in-Ibero-America-2023-ES.pdf.

Information for this post was gleaned from the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies website.

Australian Report Suggests National Legal Aid Program on the Brink of Collapse

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A new report prepared by Impact Economics and Policy for National Legal Aid (Australia) highlights funding and other challenges that have left the nation’s legal aid services in a state of crisis. According to the report, “Australia’s justice system is in crisis because people can’t access it, and the program designed to [e]nsure access is buckling under the weight of growing demand and shrinking supply.”

In 2014, a major report recommended an additional $200 million per year in funding for legal aid to address unmet legal need. The funding was not provided. Since the 2014 report, however, there has been a 3 per cent per capita cut in government funding for legal aid services. The result is that many, mostly disadvantaged groups in Australia lack adequate access to legal representation and services. Funding gaps are especially critical for matters related to civil and family law.

The cost of unresolved legal problems in Australia – including costs related to lost income, health impacts and seeking redress – is estimated to be between $11 billion and $66 billion in 2023. The compares to an estimated cost of $484 million to adequately fund Legal Aid in 2023. The annual estimated benefit derived from investing in Legal Aid is $639 million.

Justice on the Brink: Stronger Legal Aid for a Better Legal System is available online here: https://ajrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/0f02e-justiceonthebrink.pdf.

Ground-breaking U.S.-Based Research Compares SRL Experiences in Civil Proceedings Online and In-Person

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New research from an interdisciplinary team from Indiana’s Coalition for Court Access provides insights into the experiences of self-represented litigants (SRLs) in-person relative to experiences online. It is among the first studies in the U.S. to gather empirical evidence on the impact of remote technologies on vulnerable and self-represented individuals in civil proceedings. This research comes at a time when many courts are deciding whether to continue to use remote technologies introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic or return fully to in-person proceedings. The research uses a people-centered approach to highlight litigant’s views on this question.

The final report discusses self-represented individuals’ experiences and views on remote hearings vs. in-person proceedings in several areas: (i) Preferences; (ii) Procedural Justice; (iii) Distributive Justice; (iv) Structural Affordances and Barriers; (v) Technological Affordances and Barriers; and (vi) Social Psychological Affordances and Barriers.

A significant percentage of self-represented litigants in the study agree that online civil courts enhance access to justice for individuals without legal representation, particularly for parties navigating high-volume civil dockets. A large percentage of self-represented litigants indicated that they would like to be able to access court remotely in the future. Among study participants, remote proceedings were largely viewed positively, improved individuals’ experiences of procedural justice and outcome satisfaction, and “provided notable conveniences, and decreased the stress of attending court in person”.

The final report, Accessing Justice with Zoom: Experiences and Outcomes in Online Civil Courts by Victor D. Quintanilla, Kurt Hugenberg, Ryan Hutchings & Nedim Yel is available online here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfb052SVZRTIwv8-03xQyX9UzFjcvcul/view.

Landmark Report Warns of Threats to Rule of Law in the UK

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A groundbreaking new report is sounding the alarm over growing threats to the rule of law in the UK within the past decade. The State We’re In: Addressing Threats & Challenges to the Rule of Law uses the Venice Commission’s Rule of Law Toolkit to examine changes to democracy in the UK based on five rule-of-law benchmarks:

  • Legality: transparency, accountability, inclusivity and democracy in law-making and legal institutions
  • Human rights: safeguarding the dignity of all human beings
  • Legal certainty and the prevention of the misuse of power: clarity and predictability in the law
  • Access to justice: “independent and impartial judiciary, a  robust legal profession, and practical and effective access to the courts”
  • Equality and non-discrimination: equal treatment before the law

On the “access to justice” benchmark, the report cites the corrosive impacts of cuts to legal aid, which have had serious consequences for broad-based access to justice, with delays of months to years for some trials. The report identifies (i) the ongoing courts backlog crisis, which saw more than 300,000 cases outstanding in the Magistrates’ courts as of March 2023; (ii) decreases in annual public spending on legal aid by a quarter from 2009 to 2022; and, (iii) “legal aid deserts” which now leave some with no access to legal advice at all, as evidence of the extent to which access to justice has been, and continues to be eroded.

The report offers 20 recommendations to address, and potentially reverse damage to the rule of law foundation.

The State We’re In: Addressing Threats & Challenges to the Rule of Law (September 2023) was produced by JUSTICE.org. JUSTICE is a law reform and human rights organisation, founded in 1957, that aims to strengthen the UK’s justice system. 

The State We’re In: Addressing Threats & Challenges to the Rule of Law is available on justice.org.uk here: https://justice.org.uk/the-uks-longstanding-commitment-to-the-rule-of-law-is-under-grave-threat-according-to-landmark-report-from-justice/.

New Research Sheds Light on Legal Capability, Attitudes and Experience of the Law in Victoria

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Volume 1 of the Public Understanding of Law Survey (PULS) examines everyday problems and legal need. Authors Nigel J. Balmer, Pascoe Pleasence, Hugh M. McDonald, and Rebecca L. Sandefur present findings in the first volume on the way that legal problems are experienced by adults in Victoria, the steps—if, any—people take to address their legal problem(s), how problems proceed, and how they end.  

Volume 1 reveals that approximately 42% of respondents reported having a legal problem. Problems related to goods and services (20.9%) were the most common, followed by fines (9.5%) and family problems (5.2%). Problems are correlated with disadvantage and result in significant individual and public costs. Legal problem experiences also commonly cause stress. In addition, the study indicates that problems often multiply and can be very difficult to shake off. The report presents findings on the relationship between disasters, emergencies and legal problems, revealing that among respondents affected by bushfires in 2019-20 there was a greater likelihood of experiencing more, diverse, and longer-lasting legal problems.

The study’s findings are based on responses from more than 6,000, mainly in-person surveys.

The second volume of the PULS (forthcoming) will explore legal capability, including differences across sociodemographic groups. The third volume of the PULS (forthcoming) will examine problem-solving behaviour and problem outcomes.

The Public Understanding of Law Survey (PULS) Volume 1: Everyday Problems and Legal Need is a project of the Victoria Law Foundation. The full report, as well as a report summary, and key findings are available online here: https://puls.victorialawfoundation.org.au/publications/everyday-problems-and-legal-need.

Canada’s Second Voluntary National Review Now Available

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Canada’s 2023 Voluntary National Review – A Continued Journey for Implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals is now available in both official languages on the Government of Canada website. The report includes a message from Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau that highlights the interconnected nature of ongoing crises in economic, housing and food insecurity, climate change and other serious challenges in Canada and abroad. The Prime Minister’s introductory message also emphasizes the need to achieve gender equality and promote the empowerment of women and girls, and make progress on other UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The Voluntary National Review examines Canada’s achievements across the 17 SDGs. Canada is also tracking its work on advancing the SDGs through the Global Indicator Framework (GIF) and the Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF).

The second Voluntary National Review provides details on ways that funding and other supports by Canada’s government to not-for-profit organizations, governments, academia, the private sector, Indigenous communities and organizations, women, youth and other stakeholders are helping to advance Canada’s national strategy. The review also highlights investments, milestones, and additional opportunities to implement the 2030 Agenda.

Canada’s 2023 Voluntary National Review – A Continued Journey for Implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals is available in English here: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/agenda-2030/voluntary-national-review/2023-report.html.

Examen national volontaire 2023 du Canada – Une démarche continue à l’appui de la mise en œuvre du Programme 2030 et de l’atteinte des objectifs de développement durable est disponible en français ici : https://www.canada.ca/fr/emploi-developpement-social/programmes/programme-2030/examen-national-volontaire/rapport-2023.html.

World Justice Project Report looks at Country-level Performance on UN SDG Civil Justice Indicator

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The World Justice Project (WJP) has unveiled new research at a high-level summit in New York that examines how 62 countries are performing on UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 16.3.3, the measure of access to informal and formal mechanisms to address non-criminal disputes. The report also presents country-level insights on the justice gap for more than 100 countries.

The graphical report reveals a prevalence of legal problem experiences within the two-year reference period of the WJP’s legal needs survey, and persistent unmet civil legal needs. Outside of access to formal and informal justice services, the report also confirms barriers to access adequate information to help resolve legal problems, a lack access to appropriate assistance or legal representation, and difficulties managing costs incurred during the problem resolution process. The report indicates estimated impacts of 1.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that derive from lost income, health issues and related problems that result from legal problem experiences.

Part I of the WJP Justice Data Graphical Report can be accessed online here: https://worldjusticeproject.org/wjp-justice-data-graphical-report-i. Part II of the report will be published in advance of the SDG Summit in September 2023.

New Report Highlights People-Centred Justice Initiatives and Good Practices around the World

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The Justice Action Coalition (JAC), a group comprised of over 30 countries and organizations seeking to advance equal access to justice for all, last week released a new report entitled, “Good Practices and Commitments on People-Centered Justice”. The report highlights the commitments and work of JAC members in furthering people-centered access to justice. Good practices and initiatives highlighted in the report include:

  • Canada’s National Action Plan on Open Government (2022-2024) which includes pledges to share justice-related data, the use of plain language, and efforts to ensure access to justice for underrepresented and marginalized populations.
  • Columbia’s Diferencia Foundationwhich opened Alternative Conflict Resolution Centers in Bogotá and Medellín, with two target populations: LGBTI peoples and indigenous communities. These centres advance legal empowerment and the peaceful resolution of conflicts for historically discriminated peoples in Columbia.  
  • Portugal’s Justice Ministry has released a centralized, digital platform – RAL+ – that allows for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) case management. Using RAL+, Portuguese citizens can seek workplace mediation, request information, and monitor their cases. Justice professionals can track cases in real time and readily interact with parties and representatives.
  • In 2023, Indonesia created a Paralegal Justice Academy, which trains village chiefs to be paralegals. In the months since it launched, 300 chiefs have been trained, aiding local dispute resolution across the country.
  • The Solomon Islands’ Paralegalism Project trains and deploys paralegals to remote communities, educating community members on their rights and access to justice services. Since 2019, 25,441 people have been reached with this program.
  • The United States’ USAID Program in 2023 launched a Rule of Law Innovation, Design Experimentation, Acceleration, and Solutions (IDEAS) Lab. The Lab supports access to justice initiatives across the globe – for instance, facilitating a local justice needs survey in Kyrgyzstan, and starting an online community justice house in Ukraine.
  • Supported by the Dutch government, UNDP and UN Women have brought mobile legal aid services to Tanzania and Uganda, helping over 20,000 women and girls with claims related to land use, gender-based violence, marriage, and divorce.

You can read the full report in English here: https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/JAC-Good-Practices-and-Commitments-on-People-Centered-Justice-June-2023.pdf.

UNDP Publishes Evaluation of Support to Access to Justice

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The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published an evaluation of the UNDP’s support to access to justice. The evaluation examines UNDP support from 2014 to 2022, and is based on the following UNDP definition of access to justice: “the ability of people to seek and obtain a remedy, through the formal or informal justice system, and in accordance with human rights principles and standards”.

The evaluation’s six evaluation questions collectively identify the extent, effectiveness, relevance, coherence and sustainability of the UNDP’s efforts, which are assessed using qualitative and quantitative methods.

The evaluation’s 7 recommendations include:

  • Enhanced investment by the UNDP, and the strengthening of the UNDP’s value proposition in the area of access to justice at the country level, based on comprehensive analyses of institutional and people’s justice needs;
  • Pivoting UNDP programmes to people-centred justice, including ongoing support to the institutionalization of legal aid and programmatic focus on fairness, quality and oversight of justice processes in ways that align with people’s ability to address and prevent justice problems;
  • Expanding the UNDP’s work to include more actors, such as alternative dispute resolution;
  • Investment in more and better people-centred justice data.

The full Evaluation of UNDP Support of Access to Justice report and infographics are available in English here: http://web.undp.org/evaluation/evaluations/thematic/a2j.shtml.