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Towards a New Consensus on Justice Reform: Mapping the Criminal Justice Sector

Justice development is a relatively new field, but one in which sufficient field experience exists to inform a more systematic and coordinated approach. Due to its complexity and all-encompassing nature, it requires a greater level of effort than other areas of development. As a consequence, the first task necessary to achieve such systematization and coordination is to formalize a functional definition of the sector that is agreed upon across donor institutions and recipient countries, and which goes beyond the discussion of rationales for justice development or mere lists of activities. Accomplishing this task will help clarify the policy issues involved and permit donors to frame justice development in a way that adapts to donor concerns, while also facilitating coordination with other donors and recipient countries.

This report explores the existing body of knowledge among the donor community regarding support for justice development around the world, principally in the field of criminal justice. It aims to assess and identify the quality and quantity of information on those efforts, identify some information gaps, and offer proposals for steps the international development community can take to further a coherent concept of the scope of justice development aid and donor coordination.

This report is part of a broader long-term effort by the Open Society Justice Initiative to better document the global situation regarding alternatives to pretrial detention and the provision of legal services, with an eye towards generating more dynamic and widespread efforts on these justice-related issues

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Uploaded on: May 23, 2017
Last Updated: Jun 14, 2017
Year Published: 2008


Resource Tags

Resource Type: Practitioner Resources Issues: Community Paralegals, Criminal Justice, Financial Sustainability & Fundraising, Generalist Legal Services, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Legal Aid & Public Interest Law, Right to Information Method: Negotiating with Private Firms, Research Languages: English Regions: > Global