Global Program on Justice and Rule of Law

Courts worldwide are embracing innovative approaches, bold initiatives, and dynamic partnerships to transform the delivery of justice. In this webinar, expert panelists highlighted innovative court practices and justice technologies that are making a real difference—not only by improving efficiency and performance in the administration of justice, but also by expanding access, enhancing user experience, and strengthening the relationship between courts and the communities they serve.

The discussion extended beyond the technologies themselves, exploring the challenges these innovations address and the vital role of user engagement—whether judges, court staff, lawyers, or the public—in shaping effective solutions. Panelists also shared insights on the partnerships that drive successful innovation, from collaborations with civil society and academia to working with technologists and the private sector.

Finally, the webinar tackled the crucial issue of financing innovation in courts and justice institutions, offering practical perspectives on how to support and sustain transformative change in the justice sector.

This session, organized by the Global Program on Justice and the Rule of Law and the Anticorruption Community of Practice, features a presentation by the Civil Association for Equality and Justice (ACIJ). The ACIJ team shares their ongoing efforts to promote transparency and accountability within Argentina’s government and justice system, including corruption monitoring, access to public information, judicial transparency, and the public use of assets seized from organized crime.

Speakers Celeste Fernandez and Clara Inés Lucarella discuss ACIJ’s multifaceted approach to strengthening democracy and defending the rights of disadvantaged groups. Watch the recording to learn more about innovative strategies for open justice and anticorruption in Argentina.

Organized by: Global Program on Justice and the Rule of Law, the Anticorruption Community of Practice, and the Governance & Institutions Umbrella Program.

How can AI be used responsibly to improve justice systems—especially in lower- and middle-income contexts? In this inaugural video recap, the World Bank’s Digital Justice Working Group—co-chaired by Spain and Morocco —delves into real-world pilots and peer learning. With broad regional and institutional representation and quarterly sessions, the group addresses topics such as digital case management, digital access to justice, change management, and digital skills development. Explore how this global community is advancing practical and ethical digital transformation in the justice sector. 

Can customary and statutory justice systems work together to deliver fairness and inclusion - or are they fundamentally at odds? Erica Bosio, Program Manager for the Global Program on Justice and the Rule of Law answers this question in a recent interview to Faculti. 

The first International Open Justice Conference in Santo Domingo brought together leaders from 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank’s Roby Senderowitsch and Francesca Recanatini shared strategies for transparency, citizen engagement, and accountability. The event concluded with the Santo Domingo Declaration—a regional commitment to transforming justice systems and strengthening the rule of law. 

This report assesses the state and performance of the justice system of South Sudan through the JUPITER methodology. JUPITER uses qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate both de jure and de facto justice delivery metrics, identifying gaps in the legal framework and its implementation and creating comparable metrics to benchmark against similar indicators and other economies. 

JUPITER is an initiative of the Global Program on Justice and the Rule of Law of the World Bank Group designed to be a universally applicable country-based framework for measuring the effectiveness of a country’s judiciary.

JROL has recently published six thematic notes in the “Reforming Justice” series. These notes are intended to address the “Why, What and the How” of justice reform efforts, offering policy makers and operational teams a concise guide on the rationale behind such reforms. The notes survey empirical evidence from countries around the world and offer concrete insights and lessons learned into the implementation of these reforms. Check out the notes!

JROL launched the Digital Justice Working Group in December, 2024. This group aims to build a global community of 'tech and justice' experts who will meet remotely regularly to share experiences and best practices in adopting technological solutions within the justice system. Co-chaired by the governments of Spain and Morocco, the working group includes a diverse range of representatives from governments and national judiciary systems, academia and international organization.

In a first-of-its-kind JUPITER assessment, a standardized methodology is used to benchmark the state and performance of Liberia’s judiciary against specific measures of effectiveness and to compare key features across countries. The study focuses on the effectiveness of the system in service delivery in three areas – access to justice, efficiency, and quality – and presents the main challenges that emerged from the empirical work to provide data-informed context-specific suggestions for reform.