In Search of Success : Case Studies in Justice Sector Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Walsh, Barry

World Bank

关键词: ABUSE;    ABUSES;    ACCESS TO COURTS;    ACCESS TO JUSTICE;    ACCESS TO LEGAL INFORMATION;   

RP-ID  :  57445

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The World Bank, Department forInternational Development (DFID) and other donors have longbeen engaged in legal and judicial reform in sub-SaharanAfrica in such areas as legal drafting, strengthening courtadministration, judicial training, and the empowerment ofcitizens through a better understanding of the legal system.This has often been done on an ad hoc basis with onlylimited review of other reform efforts in the region. Inorder to foster a more responsive approach to justice sectordevelopment programs, a collection of case studies wascommissioned. One of the more daunting tasks was identifyingnotable justice sector developments or reforms, whichoffered specific impacts and which could be examined throughboth a desk review and field research. Independent of thefunding source, the evidence base was not only limited butrevealed a need for donors themselves to invest in betterdata collection, which could then be analyzed and measuredagainst benchmarks or objectives such as improved access tojustice. There is a significant need to review and learnfrom experiences, including controversial ones, inAfrica's justice sectors. These case studies are nothomogenous largely because their subjects vary and span awide array of developments that reflect the realities of theregion. Each story stands alone and is in no particularorder. In the final chapter, the conclusions offered in eachstory are digested into ideas for future actions. Thecollection also represents a modest range of stories and itis to be hoped that other cases will be identified andshared. A comparison of experiences of sector-wide programs(SWAPs), for example, could help both donors and governmentsenhance socio-economic impact. It should be noted that theemphasis in this report is on providing information aboutpositive directions in justice sector development and theways in which lessons learned might be applied to achievegreater impact in the future. The anticipated value of thiscollection is that some of the conclusions or actions may betaken up and used to contribute to improvements by thosecommitted to improving the rule of law in sub-Saharan Africaand is in search of 'success'.