Open Society Justice Initiative

The Open Society Justice Initiative commits to expanding recognition of community-based justice actors, strengthening public financing for independent justice services providers and advancing people-focused measurement efforts. Over the next four years, the Justice Inititive will 1) advocate for the development and implementation of policy frameworks that recognize and protect frontline community-based paralegals and justice actors 2) strengthen public financing for independent community based justice services providers and 3) build evidence and advance measurement frameworks for legal empowerment in partnership with the OECD and through country engagements.  

In collaboration with frontline groups, we will expand efforts to advocate for legal frameworks that enable and sustain these independent justice services providers and paralegals. In effort to expand financing, we will invest in advancing cross-sectoral and subnational strategies on access to justice. Together with the OECD we will push a people-focused measurement agenda that supports government and civil society groups to institutionalize legal needs measurement (Legal Needs Surveys and Access to Justice) and strengthen the use of administrative data, particularly from independent legal empowerment organizations.  We are committing to continued work with governments and civil society partners in Argentina, Indonesia, Ukraine and South Africa to develop and implement national policy and strategies in the context of wider efforts on ensuring justice for all.