The judiciary has a primary responsibility to deliver justice for all and curb corruption, contributing to achieving two fundamentals targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, judiciaries from around the world are called to join forces and support each other in developing mechanisms that help deliver justice for all. This can be made possible through initiatives fostering transparency, promoting integrity and increasing public trust without impeding the independence of the judiciary at the same time.

Corruption and lack of integrity in the judiciary are major impediments to justice delivery and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. According to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2017, citizens around the world perceive the judiciary as one of the most corruption-prone sectors, with 30% of the respondents believing that most judges and magistrates are corrupt. The poorest and most marginalized citizens are the ones who suffer most, as they are less likely to pay bribes and have limited access to influential networks. Besides hampering public confidence in the institutions and undermining stability in fragile contexts, corruption and lack of integrity in the judiciary also constitute a human rights violation.

Judiciaries can correct this perception by embracing initiatives to promote transparency, integrity, community engagement and open justice.

UNDP is supporting judiciaries in ASEAN to promote transparency, integrity, and accountability and to fulfill their obligations under article 11 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

As part of the project Judicial Excellence to ensure Justice for All: The Judicial Integrity Network in ASEAN, supported by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), UNDP is nurturing this network of judges, which supports target countries in pursuing judicial reforms, focusing particularly on transparency, accountability, integrity, accessibility, and court excellence, promoting knowledge exchange and peer-support.

Project Overview

Status: Ongoing
Implementation period: 

1. Phase 1: Judicial integrity champions in APEC (Sep 2017 – Aug 2019) 
2. Phase 2: Judicial Excellence to ensure Justice for All: The Judicial Integrity Network in ASEAN (Oct 2019 – Sep 2021)
3. Phase 3: Judicial Excellence to ensure Justice for All: Judicial Integrity Network in ASEAN (Oct 2021 – Sep 2023)
4. Phase 4 (October 2023 - September 2024)

Target countries: Lao PDR, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam
Project office: UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub
Key partners: The International Consortium on Court Excellence (ICCE), the Global Judicial Integrity Network, the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices
Funding support by: The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the United States Department of State

Contact: Tomas Kvedaras, Project Specialist, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub (tomas.kvedaras@undp.org); Sarah McCoubrey, Judicial Integrity Consultant, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub (sarah.mccoubrey@undp.org)