Justice needs

From MicroJustice

Rule of law and access to justice are essential for basic human security. The quality of people’s lives is closely linked to investments in property. Their human and social capital resides in their key relationships (employment, business, family, community). Protection of this capital is a key element of any strategy to stimulate human development and economic growth. A justice need is a need for a process that structures the interaction between people in case of a legal problem.

A provisional list of most urgent justice needs, has been identified, see the paper Priorities for the Justice System The shortlist of justice needs to be covered by the Microjustice approach includes:

• identity documents;
• land use and housing (property rights)
• family
• employment
• business

These justice needs are linked to situations/relationships in which people invest most; such investments also make them vulnerable.

However, the urgency of these needs is highly dependent of local circumstances. In order to find out what concrete needs have highest priority in a specific region, a local assessment has to be made. One of the Projects in which this will be done, using the Base of the Pyramid Protocol, is the BoP Protocol Needs Assessment Malawi.