Over the last two decades, there has been a proliferation of indicators designed to measure and quantify the delivery of justice services. This paper describes the range of justice system indicator instruments that are currently in use and the data sources and measures that they employ. The authors identify 53 instruments assessing various aspects of the rule of law and a subset of 31 instruments that specifically address the operation of law enforcement agencies, judicial systems, corrections, and informal justice mechanisms. This review, conducted for the United Nations as part of the Rule of Law Indicators Project, considers the strengths and shortcomings of existing justice indicators in the light of common challenges facing countries recovering from conflict, including: political instability, problems of legitimacy and corruption; safety and security; and, challenges relating to capacity and infrastructure. We conclude with suggestions for supplementing existing indicators to develop measures that can inform efforts to enhance the rule of law in post-conflict settings.

This paper argues that the concept of justice represents a broader and more effective organizing principle than the rule of law for international efforts to alleviate poverty. The current focus on the rule of law by international development agencies features a concentration on courts, other legal institutions, judges, laws and lawyers. But justice is about far more than the rule of law. The prescriptive portion of the paper argues that justice is about fair treatment and fair results regarding a whole host of priorities that, if supported by the international community, can better address the rights and needs of the poor. It includes organizing the disadvantaged and advocacy by and for them. The paper concludes on a predictive note that is far from optimistic about a shift from the rule of law to justice. It sketches two pessimistic scenarios for how relevant international efforts will look ten years down the line, but holds out some slight hope for two more positive scenarios emerging involving legal empowerment.