Key messages

• Universal access to people-centred justice needs appropriate financing from domestic resources, and in the case of the poorest countries, additional funding from donors.
• This first analysis of global levels of domestic spend on justice reveals that poorer countries spend a higher proportion of their revenues on justice than OECD countries do. On average, this proportion is 72% higher. It is unrealistic to expect these poorer countries to increase their share of spend on justice, given the demands of other sectors such as health and education.
• At current levels of spend, OECD and upper middle-income countries can easily afford the full costs of a universal basic justice system in their own countries. If they are not providing access to people-centred justice for all, then the issue is about prioritisation of funding.
• Current spend on justice by lower middle-income countries does not cover the full costs of a basic system. But these countries have scope to increase their taxes and could then cover the full costs.
• In contrast, low-income countries cannot afford even half the costs of a basic justice system, even if they increased taxes by the maximum possible. These countries’ inability to provide a basic justice system is not due to their failure to prioritise the justice sector. Rather, it is a direct result of their poverty.
• Donors seeking to support universal access to people-centred justice should: seek to target justice aid on low-income countries; avoid supporting justice interventions that may be effective in delivering people-centred justice, but which have unsustainable unit costs; fund core service provision; and gather and share information on successful low-cost people-centred justice interventions that have the potential to be taken to scale.

To see more visit our project page