The Justice System Reform Surveys are designed to complement the IIJD Justice Toolkit evaluation project by collecting the views of the citizenry as one of the criterions by which the ordinary people participate in the IIJD reform process. The Survey questions, based on the elements of the Toolkit, are developed by professionals, lawyers, and academics who have dedicated themselves to the implementation and application of the rule of law globally.

These questions concern several elements of the national justice system such as the constitution, the judiciary, the police and the correctional system. Survey respondents are asked to evaluate these institutions in terms of their efficiency, transparency, independence from executive or legislative pressure, accountability, impartiality, fairness, accessibility, legitimacy, and predictability.

By conducting opinion surveys, we examine the perceptions of everyday citizens about the current state of their justice system, and in so doing create a national consensus on institutions, essential to their reform. Such a consensus addresses the tension that exists between formal institutions (modern law) and customary law and other informal ways people order their live in their communities. Only by incorporating the opinion of ordinary people can will allow for a reconciliation of the people of Africa and their governmental institutions, and thus guarantee the success of the Reform process of the Justice System.

Please see the information on the Justice Reform Toolkit for more information on these qualities.

The IIJD use these questions to conduct surveys of citizens of several sub-Saharan African countries. The sample size is 500 or 1000 for each country, depending on the cost of the project and the funding we receive.

Once we receive the survey results from these countries, a group of experts and interested scholars begin to analyze this important data. The ultimate results serve as a valuable contribution to the now thin base of up-to-date knowledge on justice systems in Africa, and thus to the work of academics, practitioners, and politicians across the world and, we hope, on the continent of Africa. Moreover, we intend the nature and original intent of this valuable information to imbue the work that stems from it with that much more of a human element. This in particular is valuable to the IIJD’s mission and goals.

More information will be posted on this project soon. Stay tuned!

PLease click here to download the IIJD Justice Program brochure for you to keep.