Electronic Justice Needs and Satisfaction Survey in Colombia, 2023

Traditionally, measurement of people’s access to justice has focused on the number of entities that offer justice services and their performance. However, this method has its flaws; it does not take into account the experiences of the people who seek solutions for their legal needs, nor does it include those who do not take their problems to the justice system. In other words, the approach does not consider more comprehensive legal needs or the existing gaps that prevent people from reaching a decision or resolution that guarantees their rights or resolves a dispute. This emphasis shift has been reflected in international dialogue, with a consensus on the importance of understanding people’s journeys, from the moment a legal problem occurs until it is resolved – a people-centred approach to justice. 

Thus, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently adopted the U.S. government’s first rule of law policy, titled: Rule of Law Policy, A renewed commitment to justice, rights and security for all. The policy is a commitment by USAID to continue its decades-long effort to promote the rule of law and ensure justice, rights and security for all people¹. For USAID, “people-centred justice is an approach to rule of law promotion that starts with identifying and understanding what people need and want when they seek justice. It seeks to remove the obstacles people face when doing so, improve their justice-seeking experience, and enhance the outcomes they might receive. Simply put, people-centred justice puts people, and their justice needs and legal problems, at the centre of justice systems and services².”

USAID’s Inclusive Justice Activity in Colombia assumes this approach and puts it into action through the implementation of various strategies. These strategies are evidence-based, from the identification of problems or gaps in access to justice suffered by people to achieve the resolution of their legal needs; solution-oriented, aimed at addressing the comprehensiveness of the problems identified in the pathways to access to justice; and include continuous monitoring and evaluation, seeking that the results and data collected allow for improved access to justice for the communities that inhabit the municipalities in which the activity operates. Additionally, the activity’s strategies and actions are planned and carried out with a differential and territorial approach.

In this sense, this report on the results of the electronic Justice Needs and Satisfaction Survey (eJNS) presents valuable information and complements the findings of the face-to face justice needs survey conducted in Colombia.