Impact Assessment of the Facilitadores Judiciales Programme in Nicaragua

Abstract

Facilitadores Judiciales is a programme run by the Organization of the American States and the Nicaraguan judiciary. In 2010, facilitators were recruited and trained in many but not all urban municipalities. This presented an opportunity for a natural experiment to assess the impact of the programme. In our theoretical framework the impact is related to improved access to justice which is one of the prerequisites for peace and development. Before and after quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted in intervention and control areas. The quantitative results show confirmation of some of the hypothesized effects of the programme. Other effects are indicated by the numerous in-depth interviews but are not substantiated by hard data. In the communities where facilitators were introduced the people report fewer legal problems. The facilitators are decreasing the costs of justice. Achieving amicable solutions and promotion of peace and social cohesion is another example of the programme's impact.

Does legal aid improve access to justice in ‘fragile’ settings? Evidence from Burundi

“…Sandefur & Siddiqi (2013) found that paralegals increase access to state legal systems in Liberia, and further work in Liberia by Blattman, Hartman & Blair (2014) found that an educational campaign advocating for ADR led to shorter and less violent land disputes and a decrease in violent youth–elders disputes, but also more extra-judicial punishments. Other studies present some evidence that community paralegals have a positive impact on settlement outcomes, litigant satisfaction and livelihoods, and intracommunity relations (Gramatikov et al, 2015; Maru & Gauri, 2018). This same literature also points to limitations with the approach, including in terms of the potential of legal empowerment to improve the conditions of those with limited social capital (Kapur, 2011) or to deliver immediate, short-run benefits (Mueller et al, 2018).…”

Legal Empowerment and Group-Based Inequality

“…To the extent that exclusion is rooted in gaps between current law and practice linked to poor state capacity, we should expect positive results from efforts like community paralegal programmes, which can serve as extensions of the state, intermediating between individuals and public authorities to improve access to justice (Dale, 2009;Gramatikov et al, 2015). The reach of the formal state may be especially weak in conflict and post-conflict situations, which could suggest that such initiatives may hold particular promise in post-conflict situations.…”

Legal empowerment and horizontal inequalities after conflict

“…There is some evidence that community paralegals have a positive impact on settlement outcomes, litigant satisfaction and livelihoods, and intra-community relations (Dale, 2009;Gramatikov et al, 2015;Sandefur & Siddiqi, 2013). However, these community paralegal programmes are less successful at empowering the poor more broadly because their caseloads mostly consist of low-level, inter-personal disputes that are resolved on a case-by-case basis.…”