This paper considers the impact on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 16.3.2 of providing unsentenced detainees with legal advice and assistance. SDG 16.3.2 is the total number of persons held in detention who have not yet been sentenced, as a percentage of the total number of persons held in detention, on a specified date. SDG 16.3.2 is one of the three indicators for SDG target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.

High proportions of unsentenced detainees contribute to prison over-crowding, can result in human rights abuses, and can be responsible for broader social and economic damage (Heard and Fair, 2019). SDG 16.3.2 can be seen as a diagnostic in relation to broader justice challenges, making it a useful gauge of blockages within the criminal justice sector (Domingo and Denney, 2013).

Paper by the Overseas Development Institute