Justice Financing Framework: Background Brief 0.2 Lessons for Justice Financing from the Health Sector

This background brief is part of the Justice Financing Framework and draws on an ODI Global Working Paper on financing lessons the justice sector can learn from the health sector in lower-income countries:

• More Money for Health: How the sector has increased financial resources, including through user fees.
• More Health for the Money: How the health sector improved the quality of spending, including through prioritizing primary health care.

The Justice Financing Framework suggests countries might want to explore lessons from the health sector, as this is one of the sectors that has successfully scaled up front line services to millions of people in the last twenty-five years. Three key elements to this transformation were: having a clear ambition for universal coverage; prioritizing spending on primary services; and delivering innovative approaches to service provision (such as community health workers).

There are obviously significant differences between health and justice. The scientific evidence base for health is much more developed. The frequency of health interventions is greater: outpatient visits are on average one for every person each year, whereas a non-trivial core legal need occurs once every eight years. However, many of the principles remain the same and the core issue of how to make the best use of available resources is a fundamental concern in both sectors.