Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development

Our Mission

We are dedicated to fostering inclusive, effective, and forward-looking legal systems. Through collaborative research, capacity-building initiatives, and knowledge-sharing, we equip stakeholders around the world with the tools needed to promote the rule of law and drive sustainable development.

Our Vision

We envision a global community where international norms, legal frameworks, and justice delivery empower individuals, support economic growth, and uphold human development. By bringing together a broad coalition of partners from across the public and private sectors and international institutions, we strive to catalyze positive systemic change in every region of the world.

Strategic Purpose and Direction

The GFLJD exists to harness the power of legal knowledge to advance sustainable development. Anchored in the World Bank Group’s legacy as both a knowledge and financing institution, we bring together a diverse constellation of stakeholders across nine pillars including international financial institutions, law societies, academia, civil society, and the private sector to co-generate legal knowledge and translate it into real-world impact.

Our purpose is rooted in the understanding that law is not just a set of rules but a foundational, invisible infrastructure for economic development, inclusion, and peace. Guided by SDG 16 and the principle of justice as a global public good, GFLJD promotes decentralized governance, people-centric justice, and an integrated approach to law and development. As a platform, it empowers members from the Global South and North to collaborate, innovate, and shape legal responses to complex global challenges.

Inputs, Objectives, and Outcomes

The GFLJD’s strength lies in its multi-pillar model, which creates a feedback loop between legal theory and practice. Academic and research institutions contribute cutting-edge insights, while judicial bodies, legal professionals, and development agencies validate and refine these ideas through implementation. This dynamic exchange is embedded in Working Groups and Champion Projects that focus on pressing areas such as environmental justice, water law, domestic resource mobilization, and access to justice.

These initiatives produce context-sensitive outputs such as toolkits, model laws, policy briefs that are practical yet grounded in evidence and comparative analysis. Through this approach, GFLJD advances three core objectives: (1) strengthen legal and institutional capacity in development contexts; (2) facilitate inclusive access to justice and the rule of law; and (3) integrate legal perspectives into global development agendas. Over time, this results in strengthened legal systems, greater justice inclusion, and scalable legal innovations that reinforce development outcomes ultimately fulfilling the GLFJD’s theory of change.