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Solving and Preventing

Lawyers, paralegals, judges, mediators, police and other justice practitioners want to be more effective. Users of services want their problem solved. Evidence-based practice can support them.

On this page you can find how these practitioners can identify and monitor outcomes for people, and guidelines for solving justice problems on family, land, employment and neighbours.

Being a judge and informal justice worker

Being a judge comes with great responsibilities. I am passionate about the law as an instrument of fairness and helping people who are in need.

People come to me with a problem, and I need to find a solution to relieve them.

The problems that people present to me need more than the legal solution that I am supposed to deliver. For example, they need help communicating to the other party.

I want to be more holistic. I want to feel part of the solution. But how to make time for this? Too many cases are waiting for my decision.

I want to know more about outcomes people want and need. Are people reaching the outcomes that they want and need?

Dembe, judge

Being a paralegal

I have a lot of experience in helping people with their justice problems. Conflict exists in every community.

Lately, my village needs me more and more. I help them in finding agreements together.

I am good at what I do, but I also realize that things can be done more efficiently and in less adversarial ways.

I can help more people if I have access to relevant knowledge.

Just like a doctor, I want to be effective. Better know 'how' will allow me to offer the best possible care.

Quick access to research would help. Experiences of other professionals can help me to do better for those in need.

Amir, paralegal

Prevent and resolve
problems at scale

Practitioners can monitor outcomes and apply best practices in their daily work to prevent and resolve justice problems at scale. We explain how they can do this in three steps.

Identify good outcomes.

“I want to separate, but my spouse is still hesitating. I feel pain and I am not sure what will happen.” This is Kato’s story – one out of millions of people worldwide dealing with similar issues.

Justice practitioners like Dembe and Amir are dedicated professionals who care about people and their problems. Therefore, they want to provide the best possible help.

The example of Kato points out an important need, which is to understand scenarios about how their life will look like. In other words, what possible outcomes are.

Dembe and Amir can work towards outcomes, once they are identified. They can align their services to Kato’s needs, which improves the quality of care.

Possible outcomes:

Justice outcomes are the results of an intervention intended to resolve a legal problem. The way outcomes are defined and measured varies across justice providers. A people-centred outcome is the tangible (usually positive) effect of a justice intervention in a person’s life, for example: receiving an apology; recovering money; realising or exercising rights; restoring a relationship; feeling safe.

For people separating for example, concrete outcomes could be: fair division of property and debts, safety and security of children, secure income and housing, and no violence.

It is possible to measure to what extent people are getting the outcomes they need. For each type of conflict we asked people about specific outcomes. The graphs below show some of the results.

Apply best practices.

Practitioners like Dembe and Amir have a lot of experience. They know what to do when they give advice, mediate or decide. For many types of justice problems there is research available about what works for people. This can support them in their work.

Research on what works can be compiled in treatment guidelines. Guidelines for preventing and solving justice issues help practitioners like Dembe and Amir to improve their working methods systematically.

Guidelines provide practitioners and users with evidence-based information on what works.

They are a collection of interventions based on best practices operating throughout the world.

We have developed guidelines focusing on justice problems related to family, employment, land and neighbours.

Guidelines on justice problems

Measure and monitor outcomes.

It would be great if Dembe and Amir could see the progress they make when helping Kato.

Monitoring whether Kato is reaching these outcomes will allow Dembe, Amir and other judges, lawyers, community leaders and police to be more effective in each case.

To what extent are Kato and his spouse sharing property in a fair way? Do both of them have a secured source of income and are arrangements made on division of debts working?

Monitoring all outcomes for all clients, collecting data and reflecting on them, will allow Dembe and Amir to improve the solutions that they offer systematically.

Kato is dealing with family problems. These are the outcomes Kato wants to reach. To what extent have these outcomes been reached?

On a scale from 1 to 5 (1 being reached to a low extent, 5 being reached to a high extent):

	1	2	3	4	5
Children are cared for			X
Secure housing for all	X
Secure income for all	X
No violence					X
Respectful communication				X
Division of debts		X
Division of property				X

Moussa is dealing with land problems. These are the outcomes Moussa wants to reach. To what extent have these outcomes been reached?

On a scale from 1 to 5 (1 being reached to a low extent, 5 being reached to a high extent):

	2	3	4	5
Compensation for loss of income or property	X
Sharing of benefits		X
Secure income for all			X
Agreement on the use of land		X
Protection				X

By answering the following questions, Moussa and Kato are able to monitor where improvements are needed in order to move on with their lives.

On a scale from 1 to 5 (1 being to a low extent, 5 being to a high extent):

	2	3	4	5
How fair was the matter at stake divided between you and the other party?	X
To what extent is the damage restored by the outcome?			X
To what extent did the result solve the problem?		X
To what extent are you satisfied with the explanation (reasons) you received about the result?				X

Professionals like Dembe and Amir will want to know from Kato what is happening. Kato can then explain what steps have been taken towards a solution. Dembe or Amir identify how close Kato is to finding a solution with good outcomes. What is needed in order to get to stage 5?

Justice Dashboard

Justice Dashboard

Solving and Preventing

Being a judge and informal justice worker

Being a paralegal

Prevent and resolve
problems at scale

Identify good outcomes.

Possible outcomes:

Apply best practices.

Measure and monitor outcomes.

Implementing guidelines and outcome monitoring

Contents:

Justice Dashboard

Contact us

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Justice Dashboard

Solving and Preventing

Being a judge and informal justice worker

Being a paralegal

Prevent and resolve problems at scale

Identify good outcomes.

Possible outcomes:

Apply best practices.

Measure and monitor outcomes.

Implementing guidelines and outcome monitoring

Contents:

Justice Dashboard

Contact us

Follow us

Navigation

Prevent and resolve
problems at scale