16th IACC

The session will address innovative assessment tools that build on community engagement to identify and mitigate risks of corruption in the justice sector. 

A functioning judiciary is crucial to hold the corrupt to account and to restore justice after the fall of abusive regimes. However, justice sector institutions are increasingly undermined by vested powers and corruption – which in turn is fueling impunity. Corruption reduces the accessibility and quality of justice and the legitimacy of not only judicial institutions but the state more generally. By undermining contract enforcement and property rights, corruption in the justice sector can impede much needed investment in developing and transitioning countries. Only when the corruption risks in the justice sector can be assessed adequately, can effective counter-measures be developed.

The session will assess the options available to hold judges sufficiently accountable for their actions – so they uphold the rule of law and embody integrity.  The limitations of normative approaches to address corruption in the judiciary, such as the promulgation of codes of conduct will be critically discussed. The session will highlight innovative experiences where the community was involved in keeping the judiciary accountable, in particular through participatory risk assessments where various stakeholders were involved (e.g. prosecutors, police, court personnel, lawyers, court users and prisoners awaiting trial, representatives from bar associations). A number of practitioners will participate in the debate and share their own experiences with such assessments. The session is expected to deliver recommendations for developing a participatory risk assessment tool for the justice sector that could be adapted in jurisdictions worldwide.