This policy brief results from an eight-year partnership between The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) and the Access to Justice (JLOS) Sub-programme, aimed at driving people-centred justice in Uganda through data and innovation. It aims to inform justice leaders, development partners, legal aid providers, justice innovators, and civil society organisations about the justice needs of Ugandans.

Based on the 2023 Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) survey, which gathered insights from 6,300 randomly selected Ugandans, this brief highlights prevalent legal issues among Ugandans, the impact those problems have in people’s daily lives, and the resolution strategies that people apply to their problems. The JNS survey follows the OECD's legal needs survey guidelines, emphasising people-centred justice — a methodology HiiL has implemented in 19 countries.

The findings were released in March 2024 at the data report launch event and a 'Justice Leaders’ Forum,' facilitating discussions among justice leaders and providers. This survey builds on previous studies conducted between 2016 and 2020, which influenced sectoral changes in Uganda's justice policies, including the Judiciary’s Alternative Justice System (AJS) strategy, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) policy, and the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF).

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