By following the same people for three consecutive years, The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL), through its Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) survey in Tunisia, has given us something valuable in the world of justice data: a moving picture, not just a snapshot. In 2023, around 5,008 Tunisians opened their doors to researchers and spoke about their daily struggles with justice. A year later, many of them were asked again: had they solved their problems, or were they still waiting for a fair outcome? By 2025, nearly 2,000 had completed this unique journey, offering us not just data, but a story about justice in Tunisia, how it begins, how it stalls, and how it often remains unfinished.
Justice Beyond the Moment
The conventional way of looking at justice is static: one survey, one year, one set of numbers. But the JNS study has shown us that justice is lived over time. Problems that began in 2023 often still weighed on households in 2024, and many continued unresolved into 2025. When resolutions did come, only half were considered fair. This matters because unresolved justice problems are not just technical disputes, they shape people’s trust, their ability to work, and their confidence in public institutions. Justice, in other words, is not an abstract promise. It is an everyday necessity that determines whether people can move forward in their lives.
What kind of justice do Tunisians need?
Perhaps the most striking finding across all three waves is how far ordinary people remain from the formal justice system. In 2023, when problems emerged, most turned first to family and friends. By 2025, that pattern had barely changed. Only 7% sought help from lawyers, and 4% went to court. This is not a sign that Tunisians do not care about justice. On the contrary, it shows that people’s first instincts has shifted from relying on the justice institutions as a first resort towards the quiet reliance of alternative solutions, which might reflect either a cost or a trust issue, which is an equally important justice problem just as the neighbour disputes or workplace conflicts which are on the top of the justice problems list that the respondents reported to face.
What Form of Justice Matters to Tunisians?
The JNS data confirms what many Tunisians already know: the most pressing legal problems are not grand constitutional questions, but everyday issues, neighbour relations, money and debt, access to public services, and employment conflicts. These are the disputes that define people’s dignity and security. Yet these are also the problems least likely to be addressed effectively by courts or legal professionals. A neighbour dispute rarely finds its way into a courtroom. A debt problem can drag on for years. An employment conflict may be handled in administrative offices but often without a sense of fairness.
Here lies the challenge: Tunisia’s justice system was not designed with these everyday problems at its centre. And until it is, people will continue to look elsewhere.
A People-Centered Justice System
The three-wave JNS study points to a simple but powerful conclusion: justice reform must be people-centred. That means that the outcome that matters most to people is: timely resolutions, affordable processes and fair results, which can be considered as potential priorities for the justice institutions.The outcomes that matter to people: timely resolutions, affordable processes, and fair results.
It also means rethinking delivery. If most Tunisians go first to their family or neighbour for help, then solutions should build on those trusted networks, for example, Through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation, arbitration, legal aid at the neighbourhood level, or digital tools that make advice accessible in real time.
The Lawyer Mrs. Thouraya Tijani Reflects on the JNS Findings
What the Justice Needs and Satisfaction Report revealed is not just data, it is a mirror reflecting the people’s journey and experience with justice. As a lawyer, I witness daily the gap between the judicial system as prescribed in laws and regulations and the justice experienced by people in their everyday lives. Justice is incomplete unless citizens feel its impact in their daily lives. What is presented in the report’s data is not surprising for those who have followed the work of courts and legal cases in Tunisia. Its significance lies in documenting, with evidence, what was previously said in a fragmented and unstructured manner. What we see in the field aligns with what the report indicates. Reforming justice is a social necessity, not merely a procedural or technical one. The current moment requires redefining the priorities of justice reform in Tunisia. The issue is not only about resources or infrastructure but also about the absence of a framework that places the human being at the center of justice and ensures their ability to resolve daily problems through fair and effective means. This report is not merely documentation, it is a roadmap. People have spoken, and now it is time to listen and act, because justice is the foundation of everything.
Why this matters now
Tunisia, like many countries, faces economic pressures, social demands, and a need to restore trust in institutions. Justice is often treated as a background issue, important, but secondary to politics or economics. The JNS findings challenge that view. They show that unresolved justice problems are themselves a barrier to growth and stability. Every unpaid debt, every unfair dismissal, every unresolved dispute chips away at social cohesion and economic resilience.
The good news is that solutions exist. Countries that have invested in people-centred justice have seen tangible benefits: reduced conflict, stronger communities, and even faster economic recovery. Tunisia now has three years of solid evidence pointing to where such investment should begin. The JNS Tunisia 2025 report is not just the end of a study. It is an invitation, to policymakers, practitioners, and donors, to act on what Tunisians have told us. Justice is not a luxury. It is the foundation of fair societies and the engine of economic growth.
Link to the full report: https://www.hiil.org/research/justice-needs-and-satisfaction-in-tunisia/
