Understanding the Users of Informal Justice in a Developing Country

• In Event: Informal Justice: Explorations Across the Globe

Abstract

The provision of law (security) is a basic public good in the modern state. The primary service providers of this public good are the police. However, in many developing societies, the police are not the only source of law and dispute resolution, with informal institutions and agents filling this role when formal institutions are considered corrupt, abusive, and ineffective. In addition, the decision to bring one's problems to an informal instead of formal body depends on the social context and relationships in which they are embedded where certain social ties and networks can generate trust in informal compared to formal institutions, or vice versa. Using unique data from rural Punjab, Pakistan, we explore the instrumental, normative, and sociological reasons for using informal compared to formal justice for dispute resolution.

Authors

• Mahvish Shami, London School of Economics, International Development

• Amy Nivette, Griffith University