The costs of justice problems begin in everyday life. A justice problem can be a dispute or conflict, an unsafe situation or relationship, or unfair treatment in business or at work that may have a legal or justice dimension, whether or not people involved recognise it as such and whether or not people use a legal procedure or justice service to address the issue. Depending on their nature and the pathway to resolution, these justice problems may require effective access to justice services. Such problems can disrupt a person’s security, relationships, health and livelihood, and they require time, money and effort to address. If the problem persists, these immediate effects can accumulate and interact, turning a justice problem into financial hardship, ill health, deterioration of key relationships or loss of opportunity.
In this report, the costs of justice problems are understood as the social and economic costs associated with the underlying problem and its impacts, including costs borne by the people involved, third parties and public resources. Understanding this broader economic footprint is essential: it reveals not only what justice problems cost, but also how those costs are transferred, compounded and, ultimately, shared across Canadian society. This understanding is critical for governments shaping justice as a public service.
This report applies the OECD's methodological framework as it maps the incidence of justice problems, traces people's pathways towards resolution and quantifies the costs associated with these problems and their impacts, with close attention to understanding the experiences of different subgroups of the population. The Canadian context is examined using national legal needs survey data, complemented by other surveys as well as administrative and socioeconomic data, to provide a comprehensive, people-centred perspective on justice problems and how people navigate them. This evidence is translated into estimates of their economic and social costs, helping to establish a basis for identifying policy priorities.
The relevance of this work extends well beyond Canada. Justice problems that remain unresolved can place pressure on households, employers and public services, and their effects are not evenly distributed across the population. These challenges are shared across OECD Members and countries participating in the Justice Action Coalition. The Canadian case illustrates how evidence on justice problems and legal needs, pathways and social costs can be brought together to identify where prevention, early intervention and more effective resolution may improve outcomes for people and make better use of public resources.
This publication forms part of the OECD’s work on responsive justice and its contribution to the Justice Action Coalition, in particular Workstream I on Data and Evidence for People-Centred Justice. This workstream is led by Canada and the OECD and it benefits from close collaboration with HiiL, the World Justice Project and the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies. It builds on the OECD Recommendation on Access to Justice and People-Centred Justice Systems and on previous OECD work examining the economic value of people-centred justice. The report further develops this work by strengthening the evidence base on the socio-economic costs and benefits associated with resolved and unresolved justice problems and investment in people-centred justice systems.