About the Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys

What are legal needs surveys?

Legal needs surveys are a vital source of people-centered justice data. Legal needs surveys study the entire experience of justice problems—starting at their initial occurrence, and throughout the efforts to solve these problems—from the perspective of people who face them, rather than from the standpoint of justice sector professionals and institutions.[1] These surveys can therefore identify and explore the full range of people’s responses to justice problems, including sources of help and institutions available to them.

Legal needs surveys are distinct from crime victimizations surveys, as they focus on civil legal issues (e.g., family, employment, housing, etc.), although some legal needs surveys also explore themes pertaining to criminal law.[2] Legal needs surveys are unique in their comprehensive approach to identifying a range of justice problems and in their focus on people’s experience, as opposed to perceptions and attitudes, which sets them apart from other forms of access to justice assessments.

What is the Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys?

A one-stop resource for access to justice advocates and researchers seeking people-centered legal needs data. Visit our interactive map!

How was the Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys developed?

The Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys builds on efforts by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Open Society Foundations to document all legal needs surveys conducted between 1993 and 2017 in its “Legal Needs Surveys and Access to Justice” methodological guidance.[3] The Atlas has been updated to include links to survey findings and methodological information where available, as well as new legal needs surveys conducted since 2018. WJP intends to continually update the Atlas as new legal needs surveys become available that can help users identify surveys covering particular populations or data points of interest.

The Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys was developed with the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Why produce an Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys?

Billions of people around the world face unmet justice needs. Justice data are needed to provide insight into how these problems materialize, who they impact, and how they can be resolved equitably and efficiently.[4] Legal needs surveys are uniquely suited to provide data on these questions, which is vital for decision makers to design and deliver an effective policy response to people’s justice needs. The Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys provides a one-stop resource for decision makers, advocates, and researchers seeking this information.

Many countries are also now seeking to monitor their progress in delivering equal access to civil justice following the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 16.3.3 in 2020.[5] This Atlas can support this endeavor, providing a directory to proxy and complementary indicators as national statistical offices work to collect official data for the 16.3.3 indicator.

The Atlas is updated semi-regularly with new research based on pre-established criteria, available here. Publicly available legal needs surveys that are available online and not yet included in the Atlas can be proposed via email to [email protected]. All inquiries regarding the Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys can be sent to this address.