There is broad recognition, across thepolitical spectrum and in both 'northern' and'southern' countries, that justice reform, andmore generally the promotion of the 'rule of law',are central to development policy, particularly inconflict-affected, fragile and violent contexts. Morerecently an increased focus on global security and theinteraction between security and development as put arenewed emphasis on such efforts. However, while legal,regulatory and 'justice' institutions are now seenas key part of the 'solution' to problems ofconflict, fragility and development, this recognition is notmatched by a correspondingly clear sense of what should bedone, how it should be done, by whom, in what order, or how'success' may be determined. There often tends tobe a clear misunderstanding of both the nature of theproblem and (thus) of the solution. In this paper, theauthor seek to provide some insight into these questions andsketch out a practical conception of effective justicereform in situations of conflict and fragility that mayprovide the basis for effective programming.