Justice is experienced in everyday life, when people seek to resolve a family or housing problem, challenge a public decision, protect their livelihood or enforce an agreement. For businesses, it underpins confidence, investment and the ability to operate on a level playing field. Effective justice systems therefore matter not only for the protection of rights and the rule of law, but also for trust in public institutions, social cohesion and economic opportunity.
In recent years, governments and the international community have increasingly recognised that improving access to justice requires looking beyond institutions and procedures alone. The central question is whether justice systems actually help people, businesses and communities prevent and resolve the problems they face through pathways that are accessible, fair, timely and responsive to their needs. This shift is reflected in the OECD Recommendation on Access to Justice and People-Centred Justice Systems, adopted in 2023, which provides a common framework for organising justice policies and services around people’s legal needs, experiences and capabilities.
This agenda is also at the heart of the Justice Action Coalition (JAC), which brings together countries and organisations committed to advancing equal access to justice and accelerating the transition towards people-centred justice systems. Through its Data and Evidence workstream, led by the OECD and Canada in collaboration with partners including the World Justice Project and HiiL, the JAC has sought to strengthen the shared knowledge infrastructure needed to understand justice gaps, identify what works and help countries measure progress over time.
This report is an important contribution to that collective effort. It provides the first comparative assessment of the state of people-centred justice, as part of the implementation of the OECD Recommendation across OECD Member, JAC and other partner countries. Applying the OECD Measurement Framework for People-Centred Justice Systems, it brings together evidence on justice outcomes with information on the policies, services and institutional arrangements that support people-centred justice. It also introduces a set of internationally comparable indicators covering both outcomes and key dimensions of justice systems. Together, these provide an initial baseline for monitoring progress, supporting policy dialogue and strengthening peer learning across countries.
The findings show both progress and an important unfinished agenda. Many countries are developing new strategies, digital tools, local services, referral mechanisms and approaches to user engagement. At the same time, significant gaps remain in access to tailored assistance, in the use of evidence to guide priorities and resources, and in connecting services across institutional boundaries. These challenges reinforce a central message: people-centred justice cannot be delivered by any one institution alone. It requires coherent justice pathways, stronger co-ordination across public services and a shared focus on outcomes for people and businesses.
As the first cross-country application of the Measurement Framework and indicators, this report should be seen as a starting point. The baseline it establishes can support countries in identifying priorities, learning from one another and tracking change over time, while continued country engagement will help strengthen the indicators and improve the evidence base ahead of future monitoring of the Recommendation. Through the Justice Action Coalition and the OECD Justice Network, this work can help advance a broader shift towards justice as a responsive public service that people and businesses can rely on in practice.