Assessing how everyday justice data can shape public policy – DELIVER 2030

In October 2016, the Open Society Justice Initiative convened a cross-regional exchange on access to justice and use of data in Washington DC.  Justice providers, policymakers, researchers, advocates, and data experts from Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa and the United States joined the conversation. Our discussions uncovered commonalities in using data within the justice sector to understand needs, improve services and strengthen the public case for resources across sectors.

We discussed how government and civil society organisations are using organisational data to improve delivery of legal services. Civil society providers in Nepal, South Africa and Indonesia use case management systems to capture and analyse data to understand their client’s experience of accessing government institutions and public services.  Government agencies and research institutes are using household surveys to offer more comprehensive views of access to justice from the perspective of ordinary people seeking justice in and out of the court system. Several participants also discussed how indices – tools to weigh and compare access to justice within or across countries – are helpful in presenting data on justice in a simple and accessible way to policy makers and the general public.