Published in April 2023
The India Justice Report is a first of its kind national periodic reporting that ranks the capacity of states to deliver justice.
Through the filters of human resources, infrastructure, budgets, workload and diversity it assesses the capacity of 4 core pillars of the justice system to deliver to mandate: police, prisons, judiciary and legal aid. Importantly, by comparing data over a five-year period, the IJR assesses efforts governments make year on year to improve the administration of justice. This ‘trend’ analysis helps discern each state’s intention to improve the delivery of justice and match it with the needs on the ground.
By bringing previously siloed data all in one place the IJR provides policy makers with an easy but comprehensive tool. On the one hand having the data all in one place, provides a jumping off point on which to base holistic policy frameworks while on the other hand, the itemisation of the data into budgets, human resources, infrastructure, workload and diversity helps to pinpoint low hanging fruit which, if tackled early on can set up a chain reaction reformative of the whole.
The findings of the report are important for governments, civil society and the business community as well because it provides important stakeholders with objective data around which to fashion their own recommendations. It allows for participatory dialogues between governments and active citizens of disparate ideologies to be underpinned by objective facts rather than premised in opinion. This enhances the chances for reforms through consensus building.
After all, justice is the business of us all.