Publication: Criminal Justice: Security and Justice Thematic Paper
Date
2010-11-09
ISSN
Published
2010-11-09
Author(s)
Sherman, Jake
Abstract
Strengthening the rule of law is widely
regarded among traditional donors, multilateral
institutions, and a growing number of middle income and
fragile states as a necessary precondition for sustainable
peace, poverty alleviation, and development. Crime and
violence deter investment and lower employment, undermine
social institutions, and divert resources through direct and
indirect costs, all of which hinder development. It is
likely to disproportionately affect poor and marginalized
populations by limiting access to basic services. The formal
criminal justice system is seen in many environments as
failing to deliver justice. Most states experiencing
fragility do not have the capacity to effectively prevent
crime, enforce laws, or peacefully resolve disputes across
the whole of their territories. There is another powerful
deterrent for communities to seek redress through state
criminal justice institutions: they are frequently a primary
instrument for the government and elites to maintain power
and control through the perpetration of injustice. The
informal system, however, is alone insufficient to handle
the pressing justice requirements of fragile states, not
least for preventing and responding to inter-communal
conflict, to serious organized and cross-border crime, and
to public corruption and other 'white collar' crime.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Sherman, Jake. 2010. Criminal Justice: Security and Justice Thematic Paper. World Development Report 2011 Background Papers;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27515 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”