01
Geographically disaggregated Justice Snapshot
Establishing a verified baseline of institutional presence, capacity, performance and accessibility.
Fragile States
Justice, legitimacy and structural conflict prevention.
Prioritise and sequence actions to get the justice system functioning. The Fragile States Edition applies the Justice Audit methodology to the relationship between justice-system performance, institutional legitimacy and conflict risk.
Principal instrumentJustice Snapshot
“Where are failures in justice delivery undermining legitimacy and creating vulnerabilities to conflict?”
01Context
When the state cannot deliver justice, others may step in.
In fragile and conflict-affected settings, the failure of justice institutions is more than a governance problem. It can become a source of grievance, insecurity and political instability.
Where courts are inaccessible, disputes remain unresolved, detention is arbitrary or prolonged, and justice is perceived as corrupt, discriminatory or unaffordable, confidence in the state can erode. People may turn instead to customary authorities, informal networks, armed groups or other non-state actors offering alternative forms of dispute resolution and protection.
Experiences in places such as Somalia and Pakistan’s Swat Valley demonstrate the political significance of justice provision in contested environments. The ability to resolve disputes and enforce decisions can become an important source of authority.
Justice failure can therefore be both a symptom of fragility and a driver of further conflict.
02The Justice Snapshot
Detecting fragility before it escalates.
The Justice Audit – Fragile States Edition applies the Justice Audit methodology to the relationship between justice-system performance, institutional legitimacy and conflict risk.
Its principal instrument is the Justice Snapshot: a rapid, evidence-based assessment of how justice institutions function in practice, where capacity and service delivery are weakest, and where these failures may contribute to grievance, exclusion and vulnerability.
03Questions
The central questions.
Where are justice institutions absent, inaccessible, ineffective or distrusted?
Which communities and geographical areas experience the greatest justice deficits?
Where do delays, arbitrary detention, corruption, discrimination or unresolved disputes create persistent grievances?
What alternatives to state justice are people using, and why?
Where do weaknesses in justice delivery intersect with political exclusion, insecurity, poverty or other dimensions of fragility?
Which practical improvements could strengthen access to justice, institutional resilience and public confidence?
04How it works
From evidence to structural conflict prevention.
The Fragile States Edition follows a practical sequence.
The purpose is to move from a general diagnosis of fragility to specific, locally grounded and measurable institutional improvements.
Map the justice landscape
Establish the location, capacity, accessibility and functioning of courts, police, prosecution, prisons, legal aid providers and relevant community justice mechanisms, taking account of non-state justice arrangements.
Identify institutional vulnerabilities
Examine staffing, resources, infrastructure, caseflow, detention practices, geographical inequalities and barriers affecting women, children, displaced people, minorities and other underserved groups.
Understand the sources of grievance
Combine administrative data with practitioner and user perspectives to identify where failures in justice delivery contribute to exclusion, distrust and unresolved disputes.
Identify opportunities for preventive reform
Prioritise practical interventions that improve the availability, accessibility, fairness and effectiveness of justice services, particularly in underserved or conflict-sensitive locations.
Establish a measurable prevention-oriented roadmap
Agree institutional responsibilities, sequenced actions and indicators through which improvements in justice delivery and resilience can be monitored.
05A conflict-sensitive approach
Justice reform in fragile settings requires particular care.
Strengthening state institutions does not automatically strengthen legitimacy. Institutions may themselves be implicated in exclusion, coercion or abuse. Expanding their reach without improving accountability and fairness can aggravate grievances.
The Justice Snapshot therefore examines not only institutional capacity, but also the quality, accessibility and consequences of justice delivery.
It recognises that customary and community justice arrangements may provide important services, while also requiring scrutiny of their fairness, inclusiveness, safeguards and relationship with the formal system.
Evidence collection must be conflict-sensitive, protect vulnerable respondents and avoid exposing individuals or communities to retaliation.
The objective is not simply to extend the presence of the state, but to strengthen justice services that people have reason to trust.
06Across the fragility spectrum
Applications across the fragility spectrum.
The Fragile States Edition can be adapted to different contexts.
- Preventing escalation
Identify subnational pockets of institutional weakness, grievance and exclusion before they contribute to more serious instability.
- Operating during protracted fragility
Help governments and development partners target limited resources towards essential justice services and practical improvements in institutional functioning.
- Supporting stabilisation and recovery
Establish a credible baseline for rebuilding justice institutions, restoring access and measuring progress following conflict.
- Preventing recurrence
Monitor whether institutional reforms are addressing persistent grievances and reducing the conditions that may contribute to renewed violence.
The approach is compatible with humanitarian, development and peacebuilding efforts, while retaining a specific and measurable focus on justice delivery.
07Experience
Experience to build upon.
Justice Audit and Justice Snapshot assignments in Helmand province, Afghanistan; Central Equatoria State, South Sudan; South Central Somalia; Somaliland; and Ethiopia provide relevant experience of examining justice institutions in difficult operating environments.
08What you receive
What the Fragile States Edition delivers.
A tailored assignment can produce:
-
-
02
Justice-related fragility assessment
Identifying where institutional failures intersect with grievances, exclusion and other conflict risks.
-
03
Prioritised Action Matrix
Identifying feasible improvements to justice delivery, safeguards, accountability and institutional coordination.
-
04
Structural prevention-oriented Roadmap
Linking institutional reforms to responsibilities, milestones and measurable results.
-
05
Repeatable monitoring framework
Enabling changes in justice delivery and institutional resilience to be assessed over time.
Where justice fails, legitimacy is contested. Identifying and addressing the weaknesses in justice delivery before they deepen into grievance and violence is an essential part of structural conflict prevention.
See the system. Find the pressure points. Target the reform.
→Your question
Start with the question you are facing.
Choose the question closest to yours and tell us a little about your context.