copy the linklink copied!1. Modernising justice for inclusive growth: Leaving no one behind

Towards people-centred justice ecosystems for the 21st century

Similar to most OECD countries, public institutions in Portugal have been facing rising citizen expectations of public sector performance and declining public trust and confidence. These trends affect the full chain of the justice sector, including courts, prosecutors, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms and legal services – with people demanding greater efficiency and transparency of institutions, faster and more streamlined proceedings, more people-centred and more responsive services and better enforcement. As other OECD countries, Portugal inherited systems which are slow to change, based on complex practices, processes and procedures and outdated legacy information technology (IT) systems, which in many cases contributed to inefficient services, unnecessary duplication and increased margins of error, and hence suboptimal use of taxpayers’ resources and low client satisfaction (such as victims and witnesses).

Furthermore, the growing complexity of criminal justice cases (e.g. white-collar and financial crimes, cyberattacks, online fraud and cybercrime) demands greater co-ordination, efficiency and data interoperability among different justice stakeholders. Such complexity also increases trial time, which can result in substantially greater numbers of backlogged cases.

In this context, Portugal, similar to many OECD countries, is taking active steps to make its justice system more accessible, efficient and responsive to the needs of people and businesses, also with a view to strengthening their transparency and trustworthiness. These efforts are also taking place in the context of tight financial constraints (Box 1.2), thus putting pressures on the government and the judiciary to identify new and innovative ways to deliver more and better services for less.

These justice improvement efforts are on the whole aligned with the broader trends in public modernisation across OECD countries, which involve the following shifts:

1. 1. More people-centred approaches in governance, policymaking and service delivery – By reorienting policymaking, governance and service design processes towards people, their needs and preferences rather than institutions. This also involves efforts in co-creating and co-producing services and policies (which in turn calls for greater access to public data, availability of analytical tools, and mechanisms to monitor outcomes), which turn people into partners and collaborators. This requires balancing between internal improvements through greater efficiency and effectiveness of processes and meeting of external demand and needs.

2. 2. More simplified processes – Effective design and delivery of services for the people calls for efforts to rethink and streamline the processes and procedures to facilitate user experiences in accessing legal and justice services. This requires getting under the skin of how courts, ADR mechanisms, legal aid and assistance processes operate and putting the needs of users at the centre.

3. 3. Greater innovation and digitalisation in service delivery – Modernisation through simplification, innovation and technology hold great potential for improving public services and the public sector at large, including with regard to legal assistance and justice. This requires targeted efforts to encourage an organisational culture which promotes innovation and development of an environment, allowing for the systematic generation of ideas.

In Portugal, justice sector modernisation efforts are taking place as part of broader efforts to strengthen quality and satisfaction with service delivery. For example, in 2018, in the area of digital public services, Portugal has demonstrated above-average performance in comparison to EU member states (EC, 2018b)2 (Figure 1.1).

Moreover, with regard to online service completion (which refers to the share of administrative steps related to major life events that can be done online), Portugal has been among the top performers, which provides a solid foundation for expanding this approach to the justice sector (Figure 1.2).

A combination of these efforts to simplify and streamline the processes, innovation and technology, in turn, can improve and integrate services, reduce waiting times, enhance engagement of various stakeholders and improve management of cases by reducing the number of ineffective trials.

Trustworthy, effective and efficient justice institutions can guarantee fair proceedings and give legal certainty to citizens, businesses and investments. Indeed, the OECD Policy Framework for Investment (PFI) has pointed out that when conditions for access to justice are not guaranteed or are inefficient, such as the case of complex, costly and extensive judicial processes, the business sector, including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), may limit their commercial activities (OECD, 2015c). As such, the rule of law and timely legal and justice services offer opportunities for business to flourish, taking into account elements such as the level of impact on legal frameworks, research and development (R&D), access to financing, supplementary fair markets that channel resources to productive sectors, and any restructuring and displacement that may accompany them (OECD, 2018). The other way around, crime and violence combined with delayed and corrupt justice may have a negative impact on corporate projects and investment risks, thus affecting competitiveness and economic growth (OECD, 2018).

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Figure 1.1. Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2018, Digital public services in EU countries

Source: EC (2018a), DESI Report 2018 - Digital Public Services, http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=52244.

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Figure 1.2. Online service completion in EU countries, 2016-17

Source: EC (2018a), DESI Report 2018 - Digital Public Services, http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=52244.

In addition, the modernisation of the justice sector provides a strong foundation to strengthen the responsiveness of justice and legal institutions services in meeting the legal needs of people and businesses (Box 1.3). A study carried out in 2015 by Direção-Geral da Política de Justiça (DGPJ) and the High Institute for Political and Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon highlighted that while the current legal aid and assistance system3 ensures efficiency in guaranteeing access to justice, there could be scope for further improvement (e.g. assessing the relevance of the legal need, use of legal aid for ADRs, etc). As such, the Portuguese authorities are currently reviewing the legal aid framework, including through the review of the legislation. Having a thorough understanding of people’s needs and experiences could support the authorities in these efforts to develop a modern legal need and assistance system (see Chapter 5).

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Box 1.3. Legal needs in Portugal

In accordance with the global legal needs research, most people experience some forms of civil legal problems over the course of their life. As in other OECD countries, two-thirds of Portuguese respondents report experiencing at least one legal problem over the course of two years4 (Figure 1.3). The most frequently mentioned problems relate to consumer issues, housing, money and public services. As in most countries, justiciable problems tend to particularly affect certain disadvantaged groups (e.g. recipients of social benefits, people from low-income groups). In all countries, legal problems expose people to direct and indirect impacts (e.g. a loss of employment or income opportunities, exposure to violence).

Source: Based on the information provided by the Government of Portugal and adapted by the OECD.

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Figure 1.3. Share of respondents who report at least one justiciable problem

Note: Legal problem with a level of seriousness of 4 or more on a 0-10 scale.

Source: World Justice Project (2018), Global Insights on Access to Justice: Findings from the World Justice Project General Population Poll in 45 Countries, World Justice Project, Washington, DC; author’s calculations.

There are also indications, that the share of legal needs that are met is higher in Portugal than in many comparable countries. At 30%, the share of respondents who lack legal capability (in the sense of not knowing where to obtain information and assistance to solve their legal problem) is lower than in most OECD countries. Importantly, one-fourth of respondents who faced a legal problem had received professional assistance, which constitutes one of the highest shares among OECD countries. However, access to professional advice seems to increase rather strongly with the level of income. Finally, 65% of the legal problems reported in the survey had been resolved, of which only 5% had been addressed through the formal legal system.

Source: World Justice Project (2018), Global Insights on Access to Justice: Findings from the World Justice Project General Population Poll in 45 Countries, World Justice Project, Washington, DC; OECD (2019), “Building a business case for access to justice”, OECD White Paper.