OECD Framework and Good Practice Principles for People-Centred Justice

Access to justice is part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Making progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) requires countries to ensure that all people and communities have access to justice services that render fair outcomes and are of high quality, appropriate, targeted, timely, and cost effective. Historically, however, many justice pathways have been designed from a provider perspective. Shifting the focus to the people’s perspective and making justice systems more accessible, effective and transparent will thus be essential for rekindling the bonds that hold our societies together, and for re-establishing trust between people and governments.

In this context and as part of the OECD Initiative on Reinforcing Democracies, the present Framework and Good Practice Principles for People-Centred Justice build on an in-depth and evidence-based analysis of practices and analytical work to outline elements for a government-wide strategy for people-centred justice, inter-agency cooperation and communication, as well as mechanisms to ensure accountability and sustainability. They provide a basis for the assessment of countries’ approaches and processes, and aims to supporting them in implementing access to justice commitments and to facilitate people-centred justice transformation with a view to strengthening the responsiveness of justice systems and the resilience of democracies. Further, they aim to help advance people-centred justice, and recognise the many associated challenges facing OECD Members and non-Members, including policy and practical implementation issues. The Framework and Good Practice Principles may serve as the foundation for future work to be developed by the OECD in this area.