Peripheral Justice? Rethinking Justice Sector Reform in the Philippines

SummaryRenewed interest in law and development in the 1990s focused new attention on the role of justice sector institutions in social change. If robust institutions and settled rule of law are important, they are also elusive, hence the need for reform. Yet law reform suffers from a “knowledge deficit” about its nature and consequences, and its target settings. Questions remain about the meaning and purpose of law reform especially in stratified societies. This paper looks to the Philippine countryside to explore these issues, and asks to what extent existing reforms address the justice needs of the rural poor.