The Book

The book is provisionally entitled

Justice 2.0 - Why justice systems don’t deliver and what we can do about it.

A System Falling Short

The evidence, we show, is clear: justice systems are delivering only about half of their potential. Parliaments rarely measure what they achieve, budgets routinely ignore real needs, and citizens accept dysfunction as inevitable. The cost of this neglect is staggering. Hundreds of millions of unresolved disputes translate into billions of dollars in lost productivity, worsening physical and mental health, and social breakdown.

This justice crisis is solvable. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience, we show through data, research, interviews, and concrete examples how this can be done without breaking the bank, losing elections, or drowning in complexity.

Why Justice Systems Are Stuck

Because of their history and their symbiotic relationship with power.

Because of their ignorance of users’ needs.

Because they are confused about the WHY.

Because of they don't have a real captain on the ship.

Because they don’t let strangers in.

Four Foundations for Change,
following from this

A Renewed Vision

A renewed vision of justice as an essential service for people, communities, and businesses that nurtures peaceful, prosperous, and resilient societies. Delivered in ways that reflect how people live and what they need. We share the voices of pioneers who have developed such visions.

Innovation by Design

Innovation. Achieving better outcomes requires redesign. We show how justice services can be improved through user-centred design, a strategic focus on the most common problems, and sustainable funding. We show examples of courageous innovators who are already leading the way.

Making Innovation Possible

An enabling environment for innovation. Based on conversations with justice innovators and researchers, we set out what this entails: the laws and rules that provide the necessary framework, the funding mechanisms that sustain growth, the coordination mechanisms to operationalize this growth, and the skills of the people who make it work.

Measuring What Matters

Measurement. Justice needs a data revolution, which is essential to set ambitious but achievable goals, track progress, learn, adjust course and celebrate success.

We are at a critical crossroads

If justice systems fail to adapt and become truly people-centred, the costs will be immense. But if they succeed, the social, economic, political benefits will be profound.

In recent decades, the health sector fundamentally redesigned itself around people’s needs, with enormous societal benefit.

Now it is time for justice to take its turn.

Inside the Book

We then describe what these ecosystems look like today. Chapter 3 maps the organisations involved, from courts and prosecutors to community justice, ombuds, paralegals, and emerging private providers. Chapter 4 explores the professions and markets shaping justice, including law faculties, bar associations, legal aid groups, civil society, insurers, and fast-growing legal tech players. Chapter 5 looks at the rules - both formal and informal - that structure how people navigate justice in real life.

It begins by showing that the world is facing a justice emergency: billions lack meaningful access to justice, and systems everywhere are overloaded, outdated, and unable to cope with today’s realities.

Next, in Chapter 6, 7 and 8, we turn to the scale and impact of the problem, based on the current data and research. Serious legal issues affect nearly half the adult population in any two- to four-year period, yet only half of those needs are met. We call this the 50:50 Problem. Unresolved problems cause stress, illness, lost jobs, family breakdowns, failing SMEs, and growing mistrust in institutions.

We then ask why systems fail.

Chapter 9 identifies five root causes:

Justice evolved as a tool of power; systems lack a clear purpose; they know little about their users; leadership is fragmented; and innovation is shut out. The result is hardworking professionals delivering mediocre outcomes in systems that no longer match society’s needs.

The final part of the book lays out the way forward. Chapter 10 is about building a shared vision and purpose focused on preventing and resolving disputes at scale. Chapter 11 is about organising human centered innovation and sustiable R&D capacity based on that. Chapter 12 sets out how to creat and enabling environment for sustained change: supportive rules, financing, management, and skills. Chapter 13 is about building the data capacity justice systems lack

Chapter 14 concludes with key lessons for leaders ready to build Justice 2.0.

Tone and Language

This book comes at a crucial time in human history, when injustice is swirling around the planet as never before, as democracies are under pressure, autocracy is on the rise, and the rule of law is under attack. It provides a unique analysis, founded in rigorous data (much of which we collected ourselves), and weaves that together with real life stories, practical examples from all over the world, and the voices of the many communities and justice leaders we have worked with over the last 20 years. It is not written for lawyers, but for citizens, business leaders, civil society, policymakers, and the people who depend on justice. They can now demand the change needed.

We have not just studied justice but have shaped how the world now thinks about it. Over the past decade, we have, with a small group of experts, led a global movement that turned a once-niche idea into a recognized approach now embedded in the OECD’s Recommendation on People Centered Justice, which is being taken up by governments, international organizations, and innovators worldwide. We bring the authority of having been inside the rooms where new approaches were built and reimagined. Our vantage point is rare: we connect the lived experience of people, the politics of decision-makers, and the tools of innovation.

Biographies

Sam Muller

Sam has spent over 25 years working to improve justice systems in some of the world’s most complex political environments. He played a key role in scaling up the Yugoslav Tribunal and led the team that established the International Criminal Court. In 2005, he founded the Hague Institute for the Innovation of Law (HiiL), which grew into a leading force behind the people-centred justice movement. Over the years, he has worked with ministers, chief justices, prosecutors, civil servants, and civil society leaders across the globe to design strategies that expand prevention and resolution of conflicts, always with a focus on making justice deliver real outcomes for people.

Martin began his legal career at the University of Sofia, where he co-founded a pioneering legal clinic for underserved communities. After earning a PhD in public administration, he conducted empirical legal research in more than 50 countries, exploring how laws and institutions shape people’s daily lives. His work has been central to advancing evidence-based justice, including the development of SDG 16.3, and he has been a driving force behind the global justice data revolution. This evidence laid the groundwork for the people-centred justice approach, helping to shift justice reform towards outcomes that matter for citizens and communities

Martin Gramatikov

Mark Weston

Mark Weston keeps an eye on the quality of our writing. He is an independent writer, researcher, and policy consultant, working at the intersection of public health, access to justice, intergenerational equity, youth employability, and other pressing global challenges. His clients have included top level institutions, including the Harvard School of Public Health, New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, and the Brookings Institution. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, The Continent, Roads & Kingdoms, Africa is a Country, and Daily Maverick. He is also the author of several acclaimed books, including The Ringtone and the Drum and The Saviour Fish: Life and Death on Africa’s Greatest Lake, which was named a Daily Telegraph Travel Book of the Year in 2022

Audience

Justice professionals: leaders and practitioners in governments, judiciaries, law firms, civil society, and academia who know their systems are struggling to deliver and who are looking for new ideas.

Professionals outside the justice field, working on issues like poverty (SDG 1), health (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), decent work (SDG 8), inequality (SDG 10), sustainable cities (SDG 11), climate action (SDG 13), and biodiversity (SDG 15). For them, justice is often the missing enabler: progress in their fields depends on stronger, more accessible, and more effective justice systems

Journalists, media voices, and social influencers, who play a key role in shaping the public conversation about justice, governance, and trust in institutions.

The wider internationally minded public: readers of the Financial Times, New York Times, The Guardian, The Economist and similar outlets, who are business leaders, civil society actors, parliamentarians, young professionals, and the next generation of lawyers.

What unites these diverse audiences is a common stake in justice. The book gives each group the tools to see the justice gap not as a technical legal matter, but as a pressing economic, social, and political challenge. We hope that the book will enabel them to demand change from those who lead and manage legal systems, and to lead change themselves.

Marketing

Mailing Lists & Networks

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
The Tällberg Foundation network, of which Sam is a member.•The WWF network, to which Sam is closely connected
We can get promotion material shared via these networks.

Media & Thought Leadership

Op-eds and excerpts placed in FT, The Guardian, NYT, The Economist, and on relevant blogs
Short articles or “insight notes” tailored for LinkedIn and Medium, targeting professional networks
Feature in the ‘New Thinking for a New World’ Podcast of the Tällberg Foundation
We can write such op-eds, articles, and blogs

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

The Justice Matters Podcast (see above): can be used to market the book

The Hand of Justice documentary series (see above) – depending on How quick we can raise funds for the first episode unproduced market it, the visibility of the documentary, and the book, will reinforce each other

By combining partner networks, media presence, and the global event cycle, the podcast and the documentary, the book will reach a broad and influential audience.

Length

We aim for 80.000 to 85.000 words.

Budget

To date we have paid for the writing of the book ourselves. At this final stage we would be significantly helped with an amount of €30,000 for a final retreat to do the final chapter and to allow Mark Weston to do the final edits.

Current status

We have written Chapters 1 to 9, and are working on Chapters 10 to 14 now. We anticipate we will be done with the manuscript in March 2026. It will then have to go to a publisher who will undoubtedly suggest editing.

Our Dream

Many more books, about the hand of justice, and how important it is. For different audiences: different age groups, different geographies, differen sectors, and more.

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