Supporting Justice Innovations
The Fast-Lane Of Innovation
After thousands of years of outdated justice, we think it’s about time we speed things up. Welcome to the Justice Accelerator. We find, and support the best justice innovations in a region or country.
Justice innovations make systems faster. They help people protect themselves and help to resolve disputes. They provide new ways to prevent and resolve pressing justice needs.
A yearly, global search finds the best justice innovations to support. Those who win may get invitations to the Justice Entrepreneurship School, seed money, workshops, and support from experienced mentors. Expect hard work and amazing results. And since we are user-friendly, we always have some fun on the way. Improving the world is easier with a smile, don’t you think?
For partners
Do you want to set up a programme to work on employment, SME empowerment, or family justice? Get in touch to find out how we can accomplish your programme’s goals.
For innovators
Are you creating the next great justice innovation? Check out what we offer you and your startup, and how we can help you bring your idea to scale.
Currently we support the following innovations
Every year hundreds of the world’s best ideas and projects in justice innovation apply to the HiiL Justice Accelerator. Do you want to see which justice start-ups are currently innovating in your region?
CrimeSync
Sierra Leone / Crime
CrimeSync made an all-in-one digital crime records management application that has been launched across Sierra Leone’s prison system. It serves to improve efficiency and transparency of the justice system.
LawPadi
Nigeria / Legal advice
LawPadi is a friendly chat-bot that can be used to get information about the law for any legal issue in Nigeria.
FarmWorkerzApp
Nigeria / Employment justice
FarmWorkerzApp is a digital platform that seeks to connect vetted farm-hands to potential farms for hiring anytime, anywhere.
He! Lawyer
Benin / Legal advice
HeLawyer is a mobile app which makes legal information and advice available to citizens 7 days a week, in an affordable and easy-to-use manner.
Barefoot Law
Uganda / Legal advice and assistance
Barefoot Law is an online Legal Service Provider that provides access to justice and the Law for thousands of individuals and small businesses who would otherwise remain underserved.
Nkola App
Uganda / Employment justice
Nkola App provides users with information about their rights using a technology that doesn’t exclude the poor; Unstructured Supplementary Service Data.
Lawyers for Farmers
Uganda / SMEs
Lawyers for Farmers help farmers make practical changes in starting, structuring and management of their farm businesses for increased productivity and profitability.
Justice Bot
Uganda / Legal advice
Justice Bot is a chatbot that provide access to legal procedures information and services to Ugandans in needs of legal service and justice.
Yunga
Uganda / Crime
Yunga is a local rescue digital network for neighbors that allows them to communicate to each other in real time in case of attack.
Zzimba Games
Uganda / Land problems
Zzimba Games educates people about legal procedures in an accessible way. Entertaining card and board games mirror their environment and subsequently empowers them to take action.
BTrack Global
Kenya / Crime
BTrack designed an affordable GPS Tracking Device to monitor and recover stolen bikes, but also that can cut-out the engine remotely.
Usalama
Kenya / Crime
Usalama takes access to emergency services to the 21st century by providing a single point to contact emergency services by a tap of a button.
Wakili Mkononi
Kenya / Legal advice
Wakili Mkononi is a social enterprise that offers legal aid services and legal networking services on a digital platform.
Viamo
Rwanda / Employment justice
Viamo makes legal information available toll-free on demand in pre-recorded AND text. It helps drive public awareness about employment rights to stop staff being deprived of their rights.
Baobab Connect
South Africa / Case management
Baobab Connect provides a set of tools to track cases, manage teams and measure impact at scale. It is a decentralized case management for lawyers and community paralegals.
Creative Contracts
South Africa / Employment justice
Creative Contracts prepares contracts that are easy-to-understand, especially illiterate people. Visual communication techniques make it possible to everyone to understand their rights and obligations in their contracts.
JusDraft
South Africa / Legal documents
JusDraft is an internal legal document drafting tool that allows NPO’s to draft legal documents or complete court forms without the need for an attorney.
Citizen Justice Network
South Africa / Legal advice
Citizen Justice Network trains community paralegals to develop radio stories on cases important to their area. The stories help improve residents’ literacy and level of engagement.
Haqdarshak
India / Social welfare
Haqdarshak trains local facilitators, supported by a tech platform, so citizens discover, apply for and benefit from eligible welfare schemes.
Bababon Sangho
Bangladesh / Land disputes
Bababon Sangho is an open source Android mobile app which prepares maps of land in order to prevent or solve land disputes.
Axdraft Business
Ukraine / SMEs
Axdraft is a free online platform with automated legal documents for small and medium enterprises.
Vkursi
Ukraine / SMEs
Vkursi allows citizens and small and medium enterprises to check companies including risk monitoring, checking licenses, inspections and lawsuits against the company.
Adapting Legal
The Netherlands / Automation
Adapting Legal provides software to dramatically improve law firm’s processes, giving them more time to serve more clients.
JustFix
USA / Landlord & neighbour disputes
JustFix empowers tenants in neglectful housing situations with tools to better organize, connect with advocates, and take legal actions.
List of innovators supported each year
Just Fix (USA): empowers tenants in neglectful housing situations with tools to better organize, connect with advocates, and take legal actions.
Lady Liberty (South Africa): Lady Liberty is the proud flagship project of CSI Boutique and its core focus is to provide access to basic legal information and services to vulnerable and marginalized women and girls in poor, disadvantaged communities who otherwise cannot access the law.
Lexyom (Lebanon): Lexyom is an online legal technology platform that answers your legal questions, helps you find a lawyer, helps you draft legal documents and contracts.
Msheria (Kenya): A mobile app that insures drivers against traffic offenses. they can access bail through the application once arrested, and with subsequent legal costs coming from the offences also covered.
Usalama (Kenya): The Usalama app is a platform that connects users and emergency service providers (ambulance, security, police, road-side assistance) in a quick and efficient manner, utilizing real-time user data, and an integrated web-based back-end portal.
Creative Contracts (South Africa): Creative Contracts creates contracts for everyone to understand. Legally binding agreements where the parties are represented by characters, the terms of the agreement are captured mainly in pictures, and the parties sign the comic as their contract.
Patentbot (Ukraine): A chatbot that helps you check and register your trademark. Using blockchain technology Patentbot checks if your trademark is free. You can then register your trademark online.
Opendatabot (Ukraine): Opendatabot is a service that allows you to monitor registration data of Ukrainian companies and court register. With this information, you can control your contractors and protect yourself against corporate raids.
Lawpadi (Nigeria): a friendly chat-bot that can be used to get information about the law for any legal issue in Nigeria.
Mulika Hongo (Kenya): Your virtual police station: Mulika Hongo is a mobile app that allows citizens to anonymously report bribery and corruption.
Barefoot Law (Uganda): an online Legal Service Provider that provides access to justice and the Law for thousands of individuals and small businesses who would otherwise remain underserved.
Lawyers for Farmers (Uganda): they help farmers make practical changes in starting, structuring and management of their farm businesses for increased productivity and profitability.
West Nile Mediation Center (Uganda): Courts too expensive? West Nile Mediation Center is the first independent mediation center in Uganda, focusing on land and family issues.
J2P – Justice 2 People (Uganda): a platform for citizens to report crime in real time, and to engage law enforcement authorities in a fast and efficient way.
Evidence and Methods Lab (Uganda): creates smart infographics of complex justice problems in Uganda
LEGIT (Uganda)
Citizen Justice Network (South Africa): trains community paralegals to develop radio stories on cases important to their area. The stories help improve residents’ literacy and level of engagement.
Legit car (Nigeria): a car theft-deterrent system that makes it difficult to resell stolen vehicles in Nigeria.
Easytender (Ukraine): increases fair competition in the public procurement market in Ukraine.
Court on your Palm (Ukraine): an application that allows the analyzing of lawsuits to search, explore and visualize lawsuits in Ukraine.
Legal Advice Middle East (UAE): n online marketplace to connect lawyers and consumers across the UAE and the Middle East.
Road Rules (Zimbabwe): a mobile app that helps motorists fight traffic police corruption in Zimbabwe.
Fast Portal (The Netherlands): online service & self-service to make justice more user friendly in the Netherlands. and automate workflows
DomJurista (Ukraine): A service that will predict your chances of winning in court, using artificial intelligence.
Sauti (Kenya): A mobile based trade and market information place, empowering East Africa’s women-led SME’s to trade safely, legally and profitably across the borders.
Pinky (Ukraine): allows customers to complain and negotiate disputes with retailers online in Ukraine.
Wetaase (Uganda): utilizes voice-based mobile technology from Uganda, to track migration of trafficking victims, and to provide a reliable information back to them.
MoLLY (South Africa): is a digital educational platform which provides legal explainers to children in basic education using machine learning in South Africa.
INDenture (Ghana): A land records platform that compares crowdsourced land documents with antecedents to find encumbrances and performs initial checks on land ownership in Ghana.
Vertex (Ghana): provides legal counselling through a pre-paid legal protection plan in Ghana.
Tambua (Uganda): A mobile app that allows users to check whether pharmaceutical drugs they have bough are counterfeit.
Cabinet Gaiba (Senegal): one of Senegal’s first legal tech platforms, offers legal services to individuals and institutions.
J2P – Justice 2 People (Uganda): a platform for citizens to report crime in real time, and to engage law enforcement authorities in a fast and efficient way.
Puliida (Uganda): empowers farmers, agribusinesses, climate change driven entrepreneurs and other similar organisations with innovative legal and policy solutions focused on sustainability. Provides consulting, legal services, and plain language legal tools.
Legal Alarm (Ukraine): emergency legal help in one click – an app offering 24/7 fast legal assistance by a team of legal experts.
Legal Advice Middle East (UAE): connects people to lawyers across the UAE and the Middle East.
Sauti (Kenya): empowers informal cross-border traders by providing them with information on applicable trade laws, procedures and tariffs, and thereby enables them to trade profitably, safely and legally. It also allows for traders to report incidents of corruption or harassment.
FAMALIA (Kenya): addresses the lack of information and the inefficient case processing in succession-and land-related cases by providing information and case status updates through a mobile service.
Môh Ni Bah (Côte d’Ivoire): enables the registration of newborns in rural areas.
Ufulu Wanga (Malawi): a human rights platform that provides basic and educative information on human rights issues and on what to do when your rights have been violated, all while guaranteeing anonymity. It also provides access to professional legal advice.
Legal Legends (South Africa): a platform providing efficient and fast access to a wide range of legal services, at a fixed price.
Wemora (Nigeria): an online service helping families and businesses find and create the legal documents they need.
SME Empowerment Challenge 2016:
Puliida (Uganda): empowers farmers, agribusinesses, climate change driven entrepreneurs and other similar organisations with innovative legal and policy solutions focused on sustainability. Provides consulting, legal services, and plain language legal tools.
Lawyers 4 Farmers (Uganda): empowers Ugandan farmers by providing access to instant legal information through an SMS-based platform.
Sauti (Kenya): empowers informal cross-border traders by providing them with information on applicable trade laws, procedures and tariffs, and thereby enables them to trade profitably, safely and legally. It also allows for traders to report incidents of corruption or harassment.
FarmingBay (Kenya): ensures that farmers trade and enter into transactions with confidence and without fear of deception by providing information and legal documents.
IMAPP (Nigeria): heir goal is to create a sustainable society by providing easy and affordable access to insurance.
Legal Advice Middle East (UAE): connects people to lawyers across the UAE and the Middle East.
Legal Legends (South Africa): a platform providing efficient and fast access to a wide range of legal services, at a fixed price.
Family Justice Challenge 2016:
Citizen Justice Network (South Africa): their mission is to make legal knowledge widely available through training community paralegals to be radio journalists, and then pairing them with their partner radio stations to produce stories that teach people about law.
Ufulu Wanga (Malawi): a human rights platform that provides basic and educative information on human rights issues and on what to do when your rights have been violated, all while guaranteeing anonymity. It also provides access to professional legal advice.
Wemora (Nigeria): an online service helping families and businesses find and create the legal documents they need.
FAMALIA (Kenya): addresses the lack of information and the inefficient case processing in succession-and land-related cases by providing information and case status updates through a mobile service.
Just Land (Ghana): offers affordable and efficient legal services related to land registration and other legal documents connected to land.
Môh Ni Bah (Côte d’Ivoire): enables the registration of newborns in rural areas.
General Legal Tech Innovations 2016:
Domjurista (Ukraine): an algorithm for preparing legal documents by searching for the template that is the most similar to what the customer requires and then adapting it to their specific needs.
EasyTender (Ukraine): a service checking tender applications to avoid losing a tender call due to inaccuracies, not having all documents prepared, and other mistakes.
J2P – Justice 2 People (Uganda): a platform for citizens to report crime in real time, and to engage law enforcement authorities in a fast and efficient way.
Haki Law App (previously KnownAfrique) (Kenya): their mission is to make knowledge about laws generally and easily accessible. The app provides legal information and connects citizens to lawyers.
Legal Alarm (Ukraine): emergency legal help in one click – an app offering 24/7 fast legal assistance by a team of legal experts.
Cryptonomica (Ukraine): a global database of verified entities that provide electronic document signature and/or online dispute resolution. It creates a cryptographic key for the user that can then be used to securely sign documents, to encrypt documents, and to negotiate disputes online.
Winner Crowdfunding Campaign:
Slumfighters (Rwanda): combining architecture, access to legal aid and design to help slum inhabitants in Rwanda to improve their neighborhood livelihoods.
Dutch Challenge 2016:
Ligo (The Netherlands): a platform that helps businesses establish themselves and manage their activities. It also provides access to legal documents and to professional legal advice.
Innovating Justice Challenge 2015:
Duka (Kenya): smart bookkeeping – this tool keeps track of your sales, expenses, stocks and cash flow with ease.
Five-0 (USA): the innovation addresses the issues and incidents related to citizens’ interactions with the police. It allows users to rate their interaction with the police in a specific country, to submit anonymous reports, and to identify positive practices that are then encouraged.
Integrity Idol (Nepal): an anti-corruption tool that generates debate around the concept of integrity, builds a network of honest government officials who can push for positive change, and inspires the new generations of public servants to be better.
mSME Garage (Uganda): the one-stop centre for legal guidance for SMEs, offering free legal information on everything related to starting and running a business in Uganda.
DIYlaw (Nigeria): an online DIY platform for everything business-related: company registration, ™ registration, privacy policy preparation, NDA preparations, and so on. It also offers easy access to legal professionals in the field.
Innovating Justice Challenge 2014:
LawForMe – Lawtoons (India): simplifies complex laws and turns them into easily understandable visuals.
Accountability Lab (Liberia): supports and builds the network of a new generation of leaders and changemakers, who develop and implement innovative ideas for positive social and economic development.
BRAC Property Rights Initiative (Bangladesh): empowering poor and underdeveloped communities by informing them about property rights and about the related laws, and enabling them to stake their claim on their property. The innovation also has a special focus on women.
Living Wage Challenge 2014:
Project JUST (USA): this innovation wants to transform the fashion industry into a transparent, accountable and sustainable system by providing shoppers with information that allows then to make ethical buying choices, and by encouraging ethical practices for producers.
Liberty & Justice (previously Made in Africa) (Liberia): Africa’s leading ethical apparel manufacturer committed to eradicating poverty, empowering workers, and environmental responsibility.
WageIndicator (The Netherlands): empowers both employers and employees during job search and negotiations by supplying up-to-date and easy-to-understand wage data.
Innovating Justice Challenge 2013:
Ushahidi (Kenya): an intelligent analytical tool for gathering input on situations unfolding on the ground (e.g. elections, humanitarian crises), and for rapidly organising a response to them.
Therapeutic jurisprudence (Puerto Rico): an organisation supporting therapeutic jurisprudence through organising conferences and other events, supporting and funding research, promoting best practices, and encouraging education in the field.
Innovating Justice Challenge 2012:
Legal Atlas (USA): a versatile tool that uses artificial intelligence to create maps and legal analytics, which may be used to perform a variety of tasks such as risk assessments, treaty compliance checks, enforcement support, and many more.
Innovating Justice Awards 2011:
E-Court (The Netherlands): an online court that processes and adjudicates private law cases all over The Netherlands.
Innovating Justice Challenge 2011:
OAS Judicial Facilitators (Equador): improves access to justice by training community leaders to be mediators and conciliators, and thereby reduces the strain on the formal judicial system.