The Podcast
Justice Matters is a bi-weekly podcast series that explores how justice systems can be transformed to serve people, businesses, and governments better. The podcast features conversations with reformers - judges, policymakers, innovators, and civil society leaders - who are reshaping justice to be more accessible, understandable, affordable, and effective In that way they are helping to make their community or society more peaceful, inclusive, prosperous, and resilient societies, now, and into the future.
People-Centred Justice
The podcast focusses on the positive stories and features the couragous, innovative, humble, hard working and committed people that are making a difference in difference places of the system and in different parts of the world.
From minister and chief justice, to magistrate and grass-roots lawyer. With honest conversations that highlights what they do, what works, what their dillema’s are, and how what they do might be scaled or replicated, we hope to inspire and mobilize change for the better.
Goals & Impact
In the longer term (year 3 or 5), the Podcast will be a known and appreciated news channel of a growing national and international movement for people-centred justice, driven by real examples of leadershipm, honest dialogue about change, practical tools and inspiration.
With that, we aim to create:
Stronger public demand for accessible and fair justice
Deeper cross-border collaboration among justice reformers
Actionability through a growing library of insights and case studies for practitioners and policymakers
Elevated visibility of justice reform as a priority area for development, investment, and governance
Outcomes
01
Platform Credibility & Recognition
Outcome: Justice Matters becomes a recognizable and trusted voice in global justice reform.
Indicators: Strong brand launch; visibility among professionals, innovators, and funders; invitations for collaboration and speaking engagements.
02
High-Quality Content & Audience Growth
Outcome: A compelling podcast series reaches a growing international audience.
Indicators: At least 12 episodes in Year 1; 5,000 listeners with ongoing growth; 20+ high-profile guests from multiple countries
03
Global Engagement & Community Building
Outcome: Justice Matters catalyzes a diverse, cross-sector community of reformers.
Indicators: Social media engagement rises by 10% monthly; active community participation across sectors and countries.
04
Cross-Media Impact
Outcome: The podcast strengthens, and is strengthened by, the forthcoming book and documentary (see above).
Indicators: Audience cross-over between platforms; shared messaging; early signs of a growing movement for justice reform.
Target Audience
The podcast is designed for a broad, international audience that includes:
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Justice users: citizens, small and medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs
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Journalists, academics, civil society leaders, people from public interest organisations, that have a stake or interest in justice
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Policy actors: civil servants, parliamentarians
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Reformist and young legal professionals: judges, lawyers, justice ministers, prosecutors
We look for audiences beyond the legal community, and to engage those who use and rely on justice, and who can influence or advocate for its reform.
Outcomes Framework (For Funders)
Structure and format
Justice Matters brings the voices of justice innovators to a global audience. Each episode explores how leaders across disciplines are transforming justice systems to better serve people, communities, and businesses. With an inquisitive, honest, and human tone, the series aims to shift the global justice conversation from institutional reform to people-centered outcomes.
The concept for each episode has already been developed and will evolve continuously through listener feedback. Each 30–35-minute episode follows a consistent, high-quality format:
Who the guest is: their personality, story, and background.
What they do: their ideas, craft, and day-to-day work in improving justice outcomes.
Successes, challenges, and needs: what is working, what is not, and what support is required for impact at scale.
Dilemmas and ideas for better results: honest reflections on obstacles and opportunities.
The tone is inquisitive, direct, intelligent, and deeply human, inspired by the style of BBC Hard Talk (Stephen Sackur) and New Thinking for a New World (Alan Stoga, Tällberg Foundation)
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Episodes are hosted by Sam Muller and Martin Gramatikov, who alternate or co-host together.
Production Partners
Starsound Productions: Producer of the podcast and lead on marketing. An experienced production company in the public-good domain including work related to the Dutch childcare benefits scandal.
The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL): Content partner and responsible for financial administration.
Justice Compass Advisers, the firm to which Sam and Martin belong as partners, which includes justice leaders in its partnergroup, who have serves at the highest levels, and who serve as advisers, and who open up their networks.
We are open to additional partners who can contribute, for example, innovative law firms as financial sponsors.
Marketing & Distribution
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Main channels: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and, later, You Tube.
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Cross-posting on LinkedIn, X, and justice innovation platforms. Short articles or “insight notes” tailored for LinkedIn and Medium, targeting professional networks.
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Partnerships with the many legal and policy organizations we now very well for amplification
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We are directly connected to 1,000+ justice practitioners – via our work and via channels like HiiL, the World Justice Project, the Justice Action Coalition, Namati, the Open Society Justice Initiative, the OECD, the EU TED network, the American Bar Association rule of law expert group, and more.
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The Tällberg Foundation network, of which Sam is a member
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The WWF network, to which Sam is closely connected
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We can get promotion material shared via these networks
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International and national events: The HiiL Justice Matters conference, the World Justice Forum, the OECD Global Access to Justice Round Table, the UNDP Rule of Law gathering, meetings of the International Bar Association, the opening of judicial year in various countries, relevant World Bank and UN meetings, and the WEF (to which Sam is connected), and various academic events. We can get invited to these events to speak and be part of panels. That will allow us to get good guests and market the Podcast
Promotion & Launch Strategy
To launch the series, we will produce a 30-second promotional teaser, optimized for broad distribution across social media channels. This teaser will introduce the mission of Justice Matters, explain what listeners can expect, and spark curiosity among a wide international audience. It will be voiced by Sam Muller and Martin Gramatikov.
Episode-specific promotional snippets, each featuring a short, subtitled excerpt with an animated audio waveform. These will help promote individual episodes, strengthen audience engagement, and build brand recognition for Justice Matters across platforms.
This multi-tiered promotional strategy ensures strong visibility from the outset and maximizes audience growth throughout the first year.
Timeline
Following confirmation of funding, we anticipate:
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8–12 weeks to complete production of the first full episode.
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Regular episode releases thereafter to build momentum, deepen audience engagement, and support sustained growth
Budget
The total annual budget is EUR 37.961,50, specified below.
For the first year we seek support from philanthropy, working towards coporate and public sector sponsorhips in the second year and beyond. In year 2, we aim for diversified revenue from sponsors and partners; multi-year commitments; full production costs covered externally.
Current status
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We have completed the concept and format.
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Guests that we have talked to and who have said they would be willing to be a guest include: Chief Justice Martha Koome of Kenya, Alderman Marielle Vavier of the city of The Hague, State Minister of Justice Manuel Palacios of Spain, former minister of justice of Poland, Adam Bodnar, Professor of Law and AI Gillian Hadfield, and more.
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The partnership with Starsound Productions and HiiL has been concluded.
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We are looking for funding partners.
