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Justice in Fiji

The data on this page comes from a Justice Needs and Satisfaction survey conducted by HiiL in Fiji. We interviewed over 4910 randomly selected adults across the country in 2018. In 2019, we launched a report that gives a voice to the justice needs and experiences of millions Fijians.

0 %

Experienced
legal problems

0 %

Took action to resolve their problem

0 %

Completely or partially resolved their problem

Number of people interviewed in Fiji

Below you can explore the story of how Fijians experience justice problems in their everyday lives using interactive charts. They told us how the problems impact them, what they do to those problems and how they experience the formal and informal justice systems.

This is the justice story as the people in Fiji encounter and feel it.

Approximately 100,000 Fijians encounter a justice problem every year.
The most common legal problems in the daily lives of the people are neighbourhood disputes, crimes, land disputes, domestic violence and family problems.
The legal problems that the people of Fiji encounter are not trivial and have significant impact.
In rural settings people encounter different types of legal problems and, most importantly, use different mechanisms for dispute resolution.
Two-thirds of the respondents who encountered problems sought some sort of legal advice.
Access to legal information is a challenge for young persons, women, differently-abled, people with lower levels of formal education, and the rural population.
Slightly more than half of all legal problems in Fiji remain unresolved.

Read the full report on justice needs of people in Fiji here

How people experience justice in Fiji

Have you encountered one or more legal problems?

A legal problem is a problem that takes place in daily life – a dispute, disagreement or grievance for which there is a resolution in the (formal or informal) law. It does not matter if the individual sees it as legal problem or whether he or she took action to resolve it.

The chart shows how many adults in Fiji encountered one or more legal problems in the last 4 years.

Where do problems occur?

The map shows where in Fiji problems occur. It breaks down the incidence of legal problems per region.

Which are the most serious problems?

We asked people to tell us about the legal problem which they assess as most serious.

The problems are grouped into categories. For instance, Crime aggregates experiences of property disputes, violent crime, fraud and so on.

How are problems resolved in Fiji?

Starting from all the people in Fiji, this chart shows how many people encounter legal problems, how many take action and ultimately how many problems are completely resolved.

What was the impact of the problem?

Legal problems affect people in various ways. Violence, stress, deterioration of important relationship and loss of job are possible consequences of legal problems.

Did you look for legal information and advice?

Information and advice are key for resolving legal problems. People need to know how to limit the damage, what to do and where to go to resolve the problem.

Did you take action to resolve the problem?

When there is a legal problem a well functioning legal system provides one or more dispute resolution mechanisms. We call the chains of these dispute resolution mechanisms justice journeys.

The concept of a justice journey recognizes that there are many different steps to resolve a problem. Most often the steps are not linear. The entirety of steps that people take to resolve a problem is a justice journey.

Which was the most useful provider of justice?

People involve various providers of justice to resolve their problems. Here we ask which of these providers was most useful in resolving the problem.

Usefulness is a subjective concept. It allows the individual to consider the different providers involved and estimate which one had the most influence in the process of resolving the problem.

Is the problem resolved at the moment?

People need fair and effective solutions to their problems to be able to move on with their lives.

This chart shows how people assess the status of resolution of the problem, at the time of the interview.

How do you assess the quality of justice?

Research shows that people assess three key elements of their justice journeys:

– Quality of the process

– Quality of the outcome

– Costs of accessing justice

This chart shows how the citizens of Fiji perceive the three elements of their justice journey.

Justice Dashboard

Justice Dashboard

Justice in Fiji

Read the full report on justice needs of people in Fiji here

How people experience justice in Fiji

Have you encountered one or more legal problems?

Where do problems occur?

Which are the most serious problems?

How are problems resolved in Fiji?

What was the impact of the problem?

Did you look for legal information and advice?

Did you take action to resolve the problem?

Which was the most useful provider of justice?

Is the problem resolved at the moment?

How do you assess the quality of justice?

Justice Dashboard

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