Task forces are needed and used in many places. They probably are brought into existence because current players are unlikely to be able to jointly create the necessary momentum. A number of impediments show up many times and task forces need to be aware of them.
The first impediment they will encounter is preference for the status quo. The justice sector is dominated by well-organised professionals. Bar associations, court leadership structures and ministries can easily be paralysed by stalemates between progressive groups and more cautious factions. The more conservative leaders in courts and law firms represent groups of legally-trained professionals who fear losing control and their well-defined positions within the system as judge, attorney or prosecutor. These professionals have paid high fees for their training and invested many years in climbing the ladder in law firm partnerships or court hierarchies. They, and their representatives, have little incentives to invest in new ways of working. Improved conflict resolution also needs to be attractive for them.
In the worst cases, positions in the legal system are abused as a source of power. High-level judges and civil servants may have political loyalties that are stronger than their commitment to the rule of law and equal access to justice for all. Complicated legal procedures with many steps for serving documents or towards organising a court hearing are an opportunity for corruption.
Secondly, it is hard to locate ownership on the macro level. At present, legislatures, police, prosecution, providers of legal services, and courts act independently without any organisation taking ownership for effective resolution of conflicts or safeguarding fair relationships. Each supreme court, court of appeal, district court and legal aid boards has a narrowly defined task and role. Legislatures exist at local, provincial, national and supranational levels, without any organisation ensuring that their combined outputs are effective for people, safeguard the environment and allow businesses to flourish. In the United States or Nigeria, for example, each state has its own bar association and lawyers are likely to be organised at the level of major cities or counties. Such organisations or associations are mainly tasked with ensuring that lawyers act responsibly when they represent their clients.
Other organisations exist primarily to correct the decisions of other justice sector organisations. Appeal courts second guess decisions of front line judges and their decisions can be corrected by the highest courts. Ombuds services correct government agencies. Disciplinary bodies correct lawyers. Prosecutors independently select the cases they receive from the police. Human rights committees and inspections provide another layer of checks and balances.
The third impediment is that the many independent and autonomous organisations in the legal sector lack the resources to implement evidence-based and people-centred strategies. Each organisation tends to be overburdened and focused on daily operations. Leadership is often busy with managing heated controversies on justice matters reported on by the media . Courts and other organisations in the sector have few strategists, small R&D units, and practically no budget for innovation. Strategic plans are generally focused on strengthening what they do, instead of reinventing how things can be done.
Independence and lack of incentives are also problematic. Justice politicians and policy makers must respect the autonomy of justice sector organisations. They are generally hesitant to push courts, legal aid boards and other independent justice organisations to increase their overall performance. Economists have often pointed out that organisations in the justice sector have insufficient incentives to adapt and deliver the outcomes societies need, which explains why justice services often fail to meet demand. Being independent for good reasons, and often having a monopoly position, their accountability needs to be organised in a sophisticated way. A task force should understand the incentive structure of this sector and the ways that demand for justice meets supply.
Demand for justice is much more diffuse than demand for water or better roads. People coping with conflict or crime do not know exactly the outcomes they want nor what is reasonable to expect. They need fair outcomes for injustices only a few times in their lives. This hardly makes them powerful consumers of justice services.
When an individual needs a fair solution, the other party may push in a different direction. In order for justice to be achieved, the need for it must exist between people who are involved in an injustice or want to ensure their relationship will be fair and functional in the future. It may also happen in the shadow of an intervention by a court or a government agency, who may have to intervene to impose a solution. The interaction between the parties originally involved in a conflict and third parties is complicated. Demand for justice and supply come together in a blur of emotions, conflict, debate, escalation and polarisation. Seen from the third party supplying justice services, demand for justice comes from two parties who often seem to go in opposite directions. People seeking access to justice are dependent on the third party and are likely to be in this situation for the first time. So they are unlikely to vocally demand effective treatment, good service and efficient solutions.
The submission problem requires that the demand for fair solutions from two parties is channelled into a single request for an effective treatment delivered by an effective service model. On the supply side, the involvement of courts or other third parties with similar powers leads to some form of government monopoly. Access to people-centred justice therefore needs to be increased by strengthening the incentives of courts and other institutions to make use of society’s innovation potential.
Finally, coordination and cooperation requires trust between organisations in the justice sector. This is a fifth impediment. Created to provide checks and balances, and becoming more active when other organisations fail, justice sector organisations are likely to distrust their peers. Courts and legal aid organisations can sometimes be wary of a ministry of justice that controls their funding. Established justice institutions may distrust actors from the private sector, fearing their positions are threatened.
