About
What is IJR?
The formal justice system is an essential public resource to be used by all to resolve conflict, adjudicate disputes and remedy wrongs. The justice system is intended to be a universal public good on which the public can rely on entirely. In India, the performance and shortcomings of judiciary police prisons and legal aid – four major pillars of the justice delivery system - are often complained about but rarely has their collective capacity to deliver justice been objectively assessed.
The India Justice Report is a first of its kind national periodic reporting that brings together, hitherto siloed information, to measure the capacity of four pillars of the justice system - the police, the prison system, the judiciary and legal aid—in each state, against its own declared standards or benchmarks.
Through the filters of human resources, infrastructure, workload and diversity it assesses the capacity of 4 pillars of the justice system to deliver to their mandate. Importantly, by comparing data over a five-year period, the IJR assesses efforts governments make year on year to improve the administration of justice. This ‘trend’ analysis helps discern each state’s intention to improve the delivery of justice and match it with the needs on the ground.
Vision
The Justice Report provides a consolidated data set which officials and policymakers can use to understand what the sub-systems of the justice system in their state looks like, where its weaknesses are, so that they can begin to address and repair these frailties to improve the overall delivery of justice in that state. It is also meant as a baseline for researchers to build on in their own endeavours when analysing the justice system. It is also intended to serve as a replicable template, for the use of civil society and media, especially local journalists, for more localised initiatives emanating from civil society in states prompting a more educated public engagement with justice system reform. We also hope that there would be copy-cat reports that come from states themselves, looking at local conditions.
In bringing together previously siloed data, the India Justice Report reveals some areas that require urgent intervention from policymakers. It presents an analysis of essential preconditions for ensuring duty holders have the resources to perform the tasks required in any sub-system and provides policy makers with an easy but comprehensive tool.
The report hopes to leverage evidence-backed strategy to encourage states to achieve low-hanging fruits.
It scores and ranks states against their own declared benchmarks to create a matrix for competitiveness.
Funders
IJR’s work is made possible by the generous contributions of our patrons:
- Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies
- Lal Family Foundation
- Tree of Life Foundation
- Cyrus Guzdar
- Fiona & Louis Miranda
- Tata Trusts
- Swayam Charitable Trust
- Frappe Technologies
- Ravi Venkatesan
The Team
Maja Daruwala, Chief Editor - A barrister from Lincoln's Inn, she has been engaged in numerous human rights initiatives and concentrates on issues relating to civil liberties. Ms. Daruwala’s interests lie particularly in the area of systemic reforms.
Valay Singh, Project Lead - A published author, Mr. Singh regularly writes for Indian and international publications. He has been engaged with the India Justice Report since its inception in 2018.
Nayanika Singhal, Research Associate - Ms Singhal has an MA in Criminology and Justice from TISS, Mumbai, and is a lawyer by training. She has researched on the criminal justice system in various capacities and has been associated with the IJR since 2019.
Lakhwinder Kaur, Statistical Officer - A graduate in mathematics from Delhi University, Ms. Kaur has been engaged with the report as its statistical officer.
Faris Ansari - Website Developer, Frappe.io