THE JUSTICE AUDIT

An actionable roadmap for delivering justice and strengthening the rule of law by unlocking the potential of a country’s own data.

OPTIONS | The Justice Audit offers different strategies depending upon the needs and circumstances of a government.

The Justice Audit is an in-depth examination of how a national justice system is functioning and identifies key areas for targeted intervention and improvement.

The Justice Snapshot depicts how a country’s justice system functions after a conflict or disaster and provides a matrix of actions in support of early recovery.

The Court Audit dives deep into case data to filter and clear backlogged cases clogging up the courts by way of targeted Case Management Orders.

The Prison Audit tackles prison overcrowding, both in advance through early warning systems and by identifying existing prisoners eligible for release and referring them to the courts.

Malawi

PROCESS | Whether conducting an Audit or Snapshot, The Justice Audit path follows a set of common steps:

Engage stakeholders. The Justice Audit Team works with stakeholders across the system, from government leadership, to justice actors, to community members. Consent and participation are vital to success.
Collect and validate data. We work with local partners to gather data from a wide variety of sources, and supplement it with new survey and observational data. Then we go back and validate the data with the institutions concerned.
Analyse and visualise data. Data gives us numbers, and we study and parse them to better map the system and identify gaps using highly accessible data visualizations.
Identify opportunities. We work with government to identify actionable steps in the rule of law framework and produce a roadmap for benchmarking progress over time.
Deliver the product. The result of this work is a data-driven analytical tool. Following government approval, we transfer the necessary skills and data sets to a local partner to update and maintain into the future.
Process Process Process

The Justice Audit is objective and apolitical. It is a diagnostic process and does not score or rank countries or institutions.

PROJECTS | Since 2011, Justice Audits have been conducted in Asia and Africa and are being adapted to local jurisdictions in North America.

Link to external website

Link to PDF

IMPACT | The Justice Audit has enabled countries to identify and implement targeted reforms to improve their justice systems.

The Bangladesh Justice Audit revealed an urgent need to strengthen justice services at the local level and address case backlogs in the courts and overcrowding in prisons. The government subsequently expanded local Village Courts across the country and commissioned a Court Audit.
The Bangladesh Court Audit revealed underlying causes of case backlog and identified opportunites for filtering and clearing cases, which led to a series of Case Management Orders estimated to reduce the backlog by more than 30 percent.
The Malaysia Justice Audit revealed high volumes of drug users in the courts and prisons notwithstanding the government’s progressive treatment policies, and uncovered high numbers of unrepresented accused entering guilty pleas. As a result, the government prioritised legal aid reforms.
The Malawi Prison Audit identified over 60% sentenced and unsentenced persons in 3 prisons eligible for release under the laws of Malawi. The courts released over 50% of unsentenced persons as a direct result. Data driven policy recommendations were presented to police, government and judiciary.

TESTIMONIALS | Praise for The Justice Audit from government and international development leaders.

“This is what I wanted because only when you have a complete, rather than partial, view do you understand what is going on . . . and I can check our progress against this baseline when we do another audit.”

Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Bangladesh

November 2018

“The South-Central Somalia Justice Snapshot is a shared public good. It informs a wider community of stakeholders and provides a strong evidence base to improve access to justice.”

DFID/FCDO project manager, Nairobi

July 2020

“[The Ethiopia Justice Snapshot] is data rich. The visualisation is insightful. Despite the constraints, you have gone to a level of detail that may be a first for Ethiopia.”

UNDP Resident Representative, Ethiopia

December 2021

“The Justice Audit … has demonstrated that investments at the policy level contribute to significant and far-reaching impact on the overall performance of the justice sector… The Justice Audit continues to be used as an important tool to highlight the importance of evidence- based planning.”

DFID Annual Review

2021

“UNDP recognizes that the Justice Snapshot’s USP lies in its combination of mapping the location of justice services, with data visualizations to show how the system is actually working. The combined effect is to produce a compelling, because neutral, narrative about paths people take to justice, the gaps and obstacles they face and what government can do to address them.”

UNDP, Sri Lanka,

2024

The Justice Audit is the justice equivalent to a full medical check-up. It shows causes of system dysfunction and prescribes remedial action.

LEADERSHIP | The Justice Audit is led and implemented by an international team of criminal justice experts.

The Justice Audit is led by

Johann Kriegler

A Founding Justice
Constitutional Court
South Africa

Program implementation is carried out by

The Governance and Justice Group The Governance and Justice Group (GJG) was founded in 2009 as an association of individual practitioners from many countries to help develop solutions to practical problems arising in the administration of criminal justice. The GJG works with governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations as well as a range of international development agencies and universities.

For more information, visit
www.governancejustice.org
or contact Adam Stapleton at
astapleton@governancejustice.org
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and advised by

Thomas F. Geraghty

Class of 1969 James B. Haddad
Professor of Law, Emeritus
Northwestern University
Pritzker School of Law
Chicago, IL, USA

Justice Mapping
Justice Mapping (JM) is a consulting network of subject area experts and information technology specialists who study criminal justice operations and surrounding conditions at the local level. JM produces data visualisation tools designed to help philanthropies, policymakers, and advocates reframe justice policy around places, coordinate operations in neighbourhoods, and reinvest in safer communities

For more information, visit
www.justicemapping.org
or contact Eric Cadora at
ecadora@justicemapping.org
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