Justice institutions are vital to the achievement of the WBG’s twin goals to end poverty and promote shared prosperity. When justice institutions operate effectively, accountability increases, trust in the government grows, and citizens and businesses can invest with confidence that their rights will be protected. Justice underpins the political process by protecting individuals’ rights, facilitating collective action, and enabling credible commitment. Empirical studies demonstrate the critical role of justice in fostering a healthy business environment, enhancing growth, improving access to public services (particularly for the poor), curbing corruption, and restraining the abuse of power.
Lack of access to justice often leads to violence and societal conflict. At the extreme, such conflict results in civil war, increasing poverty and limiting the potential of a nation for shared prosperity. Three-quarters of people in the poorest billion of the world’s population are either involved in or recovering from civil war. The WBG recognizes that justice and the rule of law are the foundations for peace and a critical underpinning of post-conflict reconstruction. For this reason, they are listed as one of 6 high-priority issues in FCV settings on which the WBG committed to placing special emphasis in its FCV Strategy. Beyond this Strategy, the WBG has strengthened its commitment to this agenda through the Anticorruption Action Plan, where justice and rule of law are identified as one of 4 priority themes for reform.
Justice institutions are the foundation for the social contract between the people and the state. These institutions include courts, prosecutors, public defenders, complaint mechanisms, anti-corruption agencies, ministries of justice, and others. They address breaches of law, provide redress for violations of rights, and facilitate peaceful resolution of disputes. They also oversee state institutions and enforce the state’s role as regulator.
The World Bank has supported the strengthening of justice institutions around the globe for more than 25 years through more than 800 projects. To consolidate this expertise, and provide analytical and thought leadership to advance justice reform, the World Bank Group has launched 'Global Program on Justice and Rule of Law' (JROL) with four activities:
1. Knowledge production
2. Data and analytics
3. Operational work
4. Convening
Knowledge
JROL contributes to advancing the thinking on justice reform by producing research pieces ranging from academic papers to topic-specific briefs to policy notes, how-to manuals, and blogs. Most recently, JROL produced research on the optimal design and sequencing of justice reform based on 25 years of empirical evidence. Similarly, JROL used data on FCVs to produce a brief on access to justice in conflict and post-conflict contexts. JROL’s analytical offerings are complemented with how-to notes, for example the 'A Survey of Judicial Effectiveness' article discusses how judicial reform can improve court effectiveness, particularly in countries emerging from conflict or pursuing regional or international groups.
Data & Analytics
With its new country-based assessment framework for measuring the effectiveness of a country’s judiciary in service delivery (JUPITER), JROL contributes to global datasets as well as country-specific diagnostics (Liberia, South Sudan). Functional Reviews produced by regional teams further complement JROL’s analytical offering. JROL also produces a Justice Profile – a curated selection of perception-based indicators on judicial effectiveness across years and countries.
Legal needs surveys, including in Bangladesh, Colombia, Kenya, and Papua New Guinea, have helped understand the justice needs of citizens. Recent Functional Reviews and Institutional and Expenditure Reviews in Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova have informed the reform agenda in those countries and set the baseline for future reform impacts to be measured. The Justice for the Poor program (J4P) has generated analytics on dispute resolution giving a voice to citizens even in challenging contexts of legal pluralism and weak formal institutions. The Doing Business survey includes a Quality of Judicial Process Index that assesses initiatives to improve commercial dispute resolution. Women Business and the Law (WBL) assesses key legal barriers to women's participation in the economy. The World Bank's Data and Evidence for Justice Reform (DE JURE) provides a global platform to expand the evidence base of 'what works' in justice reform.
JUPITER is one of the latest initiatives by the Governance Global Practice of the World Bank. It is a country-based assessment framework for measuring the state and performance of a country’s judiciary against specific measures of effectiveness. The goal of JUPITER is to identify strengths and weaknesses of the judicial system to develop a practical sequence of reform and capacity development actions.
Operational Work
By leveraging the full range of financial instruments available to the WBG (investment/project lending, results and policy-based lending, technical assistance, trust funds, grants, and reimbursable advisory services) global and regional teams work with governments to:
- Strengthen justice institutions, including by reforming the legal framework; reengineering processes to improve workflow efficiency; improving case management; strengthening human resources; and building capacity.
- Promote legal empowerment, including by strengthening legal aid systems, establishing advisory and mediation services and conducting legal literacy campaigns.
In Afghanistan the World Bank supported an expansion in the number of the legal aid providers. In Nigeria, the World Bank helped create legal aid centers. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the World Bank is developing a lay guide for micro and small business owners to help them to navigate justice problems. In the Solomon Islands, the World Bank supported local officers who help communities manage conflicts that undermine security, development and social cohesion. In Colombia, the World Bank helped to develop mechanisms to respond to citizen claims and grievances regarding health care. A project in Pakistan facilitated the litigation of tax cases, thereby helping tackle tax evasion and corruption. In Honduras, the World Bank supported community-based mechanisms to resolve land conflicts. In the Central African Republic the World Bank promoted compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. In Cambodia, the World Bank supported the Arbitration Council to resolve labor disputes. In Mauritania, a World Bank project set up a Financial Intelligence Unit to help fight money laundering. In Sierra Leone, the World Bank has supported paralegals to address administrative law issues and improve the delivery of health services.
Convening
JROL is convening Global Partners from governments, civil society, academia, development partners and the private sector. Partners can play a variety of roles, from co-hosting events to co-producing solutions, leveraging the WBG’s financial instruments, and influencing the scope of the WBG’s work in justice reform. JROL and its Global Partners will:
- Promote concerted efforts on justice reform.
- Facilitate implementation-focused knowledge exchange through global fora and working groups.
- Bridge justice reform research with justice reform practice by facilitating learning events.
