”Measuring Access to Justice in a Globalizing World – the Hague Model of Measuring Access to Justice” is a research and development project. Its primary goal is to develop, validate and disseminate a standard methodology for measuring the costs and quality that normally users of justice may expect whent they travel on Paths to Justice. The methodology aspires to be applicable in both international and national settings.
Divorce, protection of personal integrity or property, claiming social benefits are all examples of paths to justice. In essence the MA2J methodology measures the perceptions of the the users of justice along three indicators:
- Costs of justice
- Quality of the procedure
- Quality of the outcome
How the measurement can help you and your users? It could show gaps in the access to justice, indicate the performance levels and facilitate improvements as well as provide feedback to suppliers of procedures. Provision of more information will empower the users to make better decisions and choices. Comparing the studied path to justice with other paths is an essential extension of the measurement. NGOs and advocacy groups can use the data to induce stakeholders to improve services: removing obstacles such as complex procedures, market failures, regulatory failures and bureaucratic approaches.
