Yemenis face many justice problems. More than 90% experienced one or more justice problems in the previous 4 years. Crime (mainly theft and violence), neighbourhood disputes, and land disputes rank amongst the most frequently occurring ones. The paths to justice in Yemen are long, windy, and have many dead ends. A little over 20% do nothing to solve their justice needs; they feel it is not worth it to try and that the other, more powerful party will win anyway. At the same time: the capacity to deal with justice problems within one’s own community is impressive and can be built on. Sheiks are seen as cost effective neutrals, but courts provide fairer and more effective outcomes.
These are only some of the outcomes of a justice and fairness survey that HiiL – Innovating Justice has done amongst 3000 randomly selected men and women from the three provinces of Sana’a, Taiz and Aden. The study was done at the request of the Netherlands’ embassy in Sana’a.
Read more about the Justice Needs & Satisfation Survey in Yemen here.
