Government

The World Justice Project has awarded seed grants to five pilot programs led by local organizations in Indonesia. The programs address key challenges in adherence to the rule of law in Indonesia, including judicial corruption, access to government ID, women’s inheritance and property rights, forest-related land conflicts, and paralegal assistance in remote indigenous communities. 

Join us for an interactive conversation on the state of the rule of law worldwide. Presenting new and original data on fundamental rights, justice, security, government accountability, and more.

In early March, at the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN representatives, politicians, and civil society practitioners gathered to take stock of the progress made towards gender equality two decades after the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The issue of political participation and representation typified the conclusion made over a host of concerns: there has been progress, but not quite enough.

At one time, rigorous measurement and data collection were largely unfamiliar concepts to the governance, development, and rule of law communities. It’s increasingly accepted, however, that efforts to track and analyze the status and reform of government institutions are far from supplemental—they are absolutely essential to understanding and improving these systems. The bigger issue facing advocates seeking responsible, responsive, and functional governments is, rather, what type of measurement will best isolate problems and inspire progress.

Update: For the most recent news and materials from our convening in Senegal, please visit: The Rule of Law in Senegal The World Justice Project will be in Dakar to convene “The Rule of Law in Senegal” on 10-12 March, 2015. The meeting and workshop will bring together 50 leaders from business, academia, civil society, and government to assess current rule of law challenges and opportunities in Senegal. 

The World Justice Project is pleased to be in Jarkata, Indonesia on 19-21 January, 2015, for a country workshop bringing together a wide range of invited stakeholders—including leaders from business, academia, civil society and government—from across Indonesia to assess current rule of law challenges and opportunities.

The Namati Justice Prize was created to shine a light on the ways people find to secure justice. The World Justice Project is an institutional partner of the Namati Justice Prize. Bushenyi is a pretty, rural district in the south-west of Uganda known for its plantations of bananas and tea. It has 127 government-run primary schools. Not long ago one of them had a very embarrassed headmistress.

Policymakers from East LA to West Africa struggle to implement policies to reduce violence and improve the rule of law, and often lack the time to review the available scholarship—which often comes up short in addressing the practical and political issues they confront on a daily basis.

This post was co-authored by Sam Muller and Martin Gramatikov. It first appeared on Innovating Justice on August 28, 2014.  

We are pleased to announce that WJP's World Justice Forum V will be held in London, 6-9 July 2015, in collaboration with King's College London. During the Forum, over 500 leaders from business, civil society, government, academia, the media, and more will gather to explore and share strategies for advancing the rule of law worldwide.

Just over two weeks ago, Zimbabwe’s Prosecutor-General Johannes Tomana, a close ally of President Robert Mugabe, announced that the government intended to reopen its case against lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, following her acquittal last November on charges that she had “obstructed justice.” This charge was the result of Mtetwa – a universally acclaimed human rights attorney and recipient of the

This post originally appeared at the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) on 28 April 2014. 

The world is no stranger to images of private opulence paid for with public money. The sprawling private residences and lavish compounds of deposed national leaders have become a common sight, showing there’s no shortage of corrupt leaders using government money for personal benefit—and getting away with it. What we see in the media may be just the tip of the iceberg, however. New data suggests that consequence-free corruption is a widespread, corrosive force on governments around the globe.

This article first appeared on the World Economic Forum blog on 3 April 2014.  Most economies in Latin America struggle with recurring problems in their institutional frameworks. The repeated flooding of the Bogota River illustrates the cyclical and expanding nature of these weaknesses and their devastating socio-economic impact.