Justice Needs and Satisfaction in Ukraine

Since 2014, Ukraine has been involved in a conflict with internal and external consequences, leading to population movement. Justice needs in everyday life are severely affected. In 2016, when the conflict intensity was decreasing, we interviewed more than 6500 residents.

HiiL, in partnership with the Kharkov Institute for Social Research, conducted a Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) survey throughout Ukraine. We made sure to have special representation for internally displaced persons, those who live(d) in the conflict zone and needed to move from their hometowns to escape violence.

The main findings are that millions of people need more accessible, affordable, effective and fair justice journeys. Particularly acute are the justice needs of the internally displaced people (IDPs). Better access to justice can be achieved through continuous focus on the users, re-design of existing justice journeys and encouragement of innovative approaches to justice.

Consumer problems, employment disagreements, issues around claiming and receiving welfare benefits and housing are just the most frequently occuring domains of legal problems. Special problems of IDPs include difficulties accessing ID documents, housing and employment.

These findings led the way to the organization of two data-to-action workshops, the first one with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the second one with the support of UNDP Ukraine, field office in Kramatorsk.

Data is now available in the Justice Dashboard.