Background

The Justice Sector Development Programme (JSDP) which began operations in March 2005 as an initiative of the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), is geared towards helping the people of Sierra Leone, especially the rural poor, marginalized, and vulnerable, with affordable and accessible justice, support to the rule of law section, prevent further conflict and improve safety and security measures throughout the country. After years of bad governance which culminated in the decade long civil conflict, it is now broadly recognized among state as well as non-state stakeholders that any effort aimed at reforming the justice sector need to be all inclusive, involving both justice institutions and interest groups such as civil society organisations. More attention needs to be paid to the informal justice system by strengthening alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in order for justice to holistically address societal injustices in a meaningful way. In lieu of this, the JSDP partners with civil society and private sector organizations in an ongoing strategy development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.

It is worth noting that placing much emphasis on the input/supply component alone, which is, the police etc., and overlooking the demand aspect, which is, what the people want, undermines the true nature of justice. Access to justice can only be achieved if equal attention is given to both. In light of this, the DFID has commended the efforts of JSDP in ensuring that pro-poor and demand component dimensions to take centre stage of its operations during the first phase. This stage includes positive examples of women’s empowerment, awareness raising and improved capacity of people to resolve conflicts themselves. The second phase, will however, build on this and develop a strategy to strengthen the demand-side through increased engagement of civil society.

How to go about this task

The JSDP Demand Side Strategy reflects priorities set out in the GoSL Justice Reform Strategy (2008-10). The aim of this strategy is to reduce crime and fear of crime; speed criminal case processing; improve handling of juveniles; speed civil processing; improve primary justice mechanisms; improve human rights outcomes and accountability; and improve capacity to deliver justice sector plan targets. At the preliminary stage, funding will be channeled through JSDP. However, linking the overall GoSL Justice Sector Reform Strategy will allow for other donors to contribute at will. This will enhance a sustainable partnership between the GoSL and Civil Society for long term justice sector reforms. The long term vision, as suggested by JSDP, is central for the demand side initiative to succeed being that it is locally owned and driven, mirroring and influencing government-driven reform initiatives. The Strategy is intended to operate at three different levels- national, meso and grassroots level.

National

The national level aims at building civil society-GoSL engagement mechanisms to influence sustained justice sector reforms which will involve monitoring the supply side, This strategy will establish and support structures for civil society input into justice sector reform policy processes. It will ensure structured representation and inclusive means by which civil society can influence and feed into the justice sector reform processes at all levels- grass root, district and national. This is to make sure that the concerns of the citizens, especially the rural poor and vulnerable in diverse parts of the country are reflected in the national policies.

Meso Level

The Meso level strengthens civil society organizational and programme capacities to serve as intermediaries between the demand side and the supply side of justice.    This deals purely with the program management of the Demand –side support. That is, the strengthening of civil society by providing funds, technical guidance and quality assurance in order to reflect Justice Reform Strategy targets. Strong emphasis will be laid on rural/grassroot justice, on bridging informal (traditional) and formal (state-run) means of accessing justice and on reaching the poor and the vulnerable.   There will be a professional Grants Management and Advisory Team, (the PMU/ Management Team.) This unit will provide overall technical advisory service to the operationalisation of the demand side strategy. The funding of civil society will be done under this unit.

Grassroots Level

This level supports the direct demand side involvement .This will be done by embarking on Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), trainings etc. in order to raise collective awareness and interest around people’s right and locally relevant justice issues thus contributing to an increasingly self-informed environment for participatory action and change. JSDP is known for its focus on traditional /informal justice system. In subsequent JSDP programmes there will be an opportunity to carry out primary data gathering and perception surveys across all districts focusing on perceived injustices and non-state justice processes from the demand side point of view. This would help rural civil society actors through trainings. Also, by involving them in data gathering and perception surveys, it will help them focus their outreach and feedback activities in areas where they have a comparative advantage to national/elitist organizations and state actors.

How this activity fits in with the Government Reform Strategy

The main focus of the JSDP Demand Side Strategy is to reflect the priorities set out in GoSL Justice Reform Strategy 2008-10 which emphasizes that premium be put on the demand side rather than that of the supply side. The government Reform Strategy contain four goals. They are safe communities, access to justice, strengthened rule of law, and improved justice service delivery. Each goal has one or more targets with a working group attached to it comprising representatives from each sector institution involved in addressing that specific target. Target Working Groups function as subcommittees of a technical working group of justice institutions from the line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) involved.

In a nutshell, this document serves as a check on the government by civil society which promotes the interests of the citizens especially the grassroots level.