Peace Through People-Centered Justice: Renewing the Promise of Peace and Justice Beyond the Courtroom

International efforts to advance peace and justice have often been focused on strengthening institutions, negotiating new legal frameworks and preventing and resolving conflict. Yet for most people, peace and justice are experienced much closer to home: in whether they feel safe in their neighborhood, whether disputes can be resolved fairly, and whether they can access services when they need it.

At a time of declining trust in institutions, increasing polarization, growing inequalities and persistent violence, strengthening the rule of law therefore requires looking beyond courts and formal justice institutions alone. Cities, local governments, community organizations, security and justice actors are often on the front line of addressing the grievances, exclusion and unmet justice needs that can undermine trust and contribute to violence. Connecting these local realities with national policies and global commitments is essential to building more peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

People-centered justice and violence prevention offer complementary ways of responding to these challenges. Both begin with people’s experiences and recognize that lasting peace depends not only on responding to violence or resolving disputes once they escalate, but also on addressing the underlying problems that affect people’s safety, dignity and ability to resolve problems peacefully.

Bridging the gap between global commitments and local realities is central to the work of Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, a member states-led initiative co-founded and hosted by NYU’s Center on International Cooperation. Through networks such as Peace in Our Cities (PiOC) and the Justice Action Coalition (JAC), Pathfinders brings together governments, cities, and partners to advance complementary approaches to violence prevention and people-centered justice. While PiOC promotes locally led, evidence-based strategies to reduce urban violence and strengthen community safety, the JAC works to advance accessible, people-centered justice that responds to everyday legal needs and builds trust in institutions. Together, they demonstrate how locally grounded action, supported by collaborations across governments, civil society and international partners, can help translate global ambitions for peace and justice into tangible improvements in people’s lives.

This session will explore what this means in practice. The discussion will examine how locally grounded approaches can strengthen safety, trust and social cohesion, and invite panelists to reflect on comparable experiences from their own contexts. The conversation will consider what local and national governments as well as the international community can learn from these approaches and how they can better support locally led efforts to advance peace and justice.

From global commitments to local realities

The Hague is globally recognized as a city of peace and justice. Eighty years after the establishment of the International Court of Justice, the international legal architecture remains essential to resolving disputes peacefully and upholding the rule of law. Yet renewing the promise of peace and justice also requires looking at how these principles translate into people’s everyday lives, beyond international institutions and formal justice systems.

Building on this perspective, the session contributes to Hague Justice Week by asking: What does peace and justice through law look like from the perspective of the communities where people live?

By bringing together perspectives from cities, communities, national governments, and international actors, the discussion will explore how locally grounded approaches can inform broader efforts to strengthen the rule of law, prevent violence, and sustain peace. In doing so, it will highlight the importance of connecting local experiences with national and international commitments, recognizing that peace and justice must not only be upheld through institutions, but also built and sustained from the local level upward.

Objectives

The session will:

1. Explore the connection between people’s everyday experiences of justice and safety, including how unresolved justice needs, exclusion and lack of trust can contribute to grievances and violence.
2. Highlight practical experiences from cities, communities, and national governments, including from Pathfinders through Peace in Our Cities and the Justice Action Coalition, that demonstrate how people-centered justice, violence prevention, and inclusive local governance can reinforce one another to strengthen safety, trust, and social cohesion.
3. Examine the role of cities and local governments as critical actors in advancing people-centered justice and preventing violence.
4. Connect local experience with national and international policy, identifying what governments and international actors can learn from locally led approaches and how they can better enable and support them.
5. Identify practical lessons for strengthening the relationship between peace, justice and the rule of law, from the local level upward.