IDLO Publications on Customary Justice

The International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) has released three edited volumes on customary justice. 

"Customary Justice: Perspectives on Legal Empowerment" was edited by Janine Ubink and "explores the relationship between traditional justice and legal empowerment. It discusses key aspects of traditional justice, including the rise of customary law in justice sector reform, the effectiveness of hybrid justice systems, access to justice through community courts, customary law and land tenure, land rights and nature conservation, and the analysis of policy proposals for justice reforms based on traditional justice." It can be downloaded here.

"Working with Customary Justice Systems: Post-conflict and Fragile States" was edited by Erica Harper and  "showcases research conducted under the IDLO Legal Empowerment and Customary Law Research Grants Program. Through this program, seven bursaries were awarded to scholar-practitioners to evaluate the impact of an empowerment-based initiative involving customary justice. The volume aims to assist readers develop a better understanding of the relationship between customary justice and the legal empowerment of users and identify possible entry points for engaging with customary justice systems." It can be downloaded here.

Finally, "Customary Justice: from Programe Design to Impact Evaluation" was also edited by Erica Harper and "was developed to provide guidance to international and national actors on the potential role of customary justice systems in fostering the rule of law and access to justice in post-conflict, post-disaster and development contexts. Specifically, it aims to provoke thought among practitioners about the objectives of customary law interventions, to encourage critical assessments of the criteria on which programming decisions are made, and to provide tools to assist in gauging the extent to which interventions are having a positive impact." It can be downloaded here.