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Justice in Kenya

The data on this page comes from a Justice Needs and Satisfaction survey conducted by HiiL in 2017. We interviewed more than 6 000 randomly selected adults across the country to give voice to the justice needs and experiences of millions Kenyans.

Experienced
legal problems

0 %

Took action to resolve their problem

0 %

Completely or partially resolved their problem

0 %

Number of people interviewed in Kenya

Below you can explore the story of justice problems in the everyday life of citizens in Kenya using interactive charts. People told us how the problems affect them, what they do to resolve those problems and how they experienced the formal and informal justice system.

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

Between 17.2 and 17.9 million Kenyan citizens have experienced one or more legal problems in the past four years.
Disputes related to land, employment, family, money and crime are the most common problems in Kenya.
There is a difference in the type of legal problems that women and men and people from difference socio-economic groups experience.
Legal problems which are not resolved in a fair manner have profound effects on the people involved.
Most of the people who experience legal problems (81%) take active steps to resolve them.
Three quarters (65%) of the users of justice seek legal information and advice.
More than half of the Kenyans who encountered a legal problem (54%) say that they did not receive an outcome.
Most people experience their justice journeys as stressful.

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

How people experience justice in Kenya

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 or whether she took action to resolve it.

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

Where do problems occur?

The map shows where in Kenya 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 with property and violent crime, fraud and so on.

How are problems resolved in Kenya?

Starting from the all people in Kenya, this chart shows how many people enconter legal problems, how many take action and ultimately how many problems are considered to be completely resolved.

What was the impact of the problem?

Legal problems affect people in different ways. Violence, stress, deterioration of important relationships 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 these 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 resolutions to their problems in order to move on with their lives.

This chart shows how they assess the 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 users of justice in Kenya perceive the three elements of their justice journey.

Justice Dashboard

Justice Dashboard

Justice in Kenya

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

How people experience justice in Kenya

Have you encountered one or more legal problems?

Where do problems occur?

Which are the most serious problems?

How are problems resolved in Kenya?

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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