Seven justice startups from South Africa and Zimbabwe have been chosen for the semi-finals at the annual Innovating Justice Challenge.

The Innovating Justice Challenge supports startups working to make justice more accessible to the public.

Successful finalists will have access to up to Euro 20 000 in equity-free grant money, and earn a place in the six month HiiL Justice Accelerator, a unique business development programme which specialises in growing startups focussed on sustainable solutions to justice and legal problems.

The Southern African finalists have been selected to take part in the event, which will take place at OPEN Maboneng in Johannesburg on 13th October.

“The number and quality of entries that HiiL received this year shows that the justice sector is ripe for disruption, with hundreds of like-minded innovators all thinking about how new technology and ideas can improve access to justice for all,” Head of the Justice Accelerator, Wilfried de Wever, said in a statement. “

We’ve seen that every aspect of the law and its implementation is being challenged. In every country in which we operate, people are finding novel ways to improve justice systems. The challenge for HiiL is now is to look at how we can support ever more innovators globally in their work.”

As well as the semi-final pitching session, the Innovating Justice Boostcamp will also feature key-note addresses, panel discussions, and interactive working sessions that will serve to bring together the different worlds of entrepreneurs, investors, civil society, justice professionals and academia.

Boostcamp is a unique opportunity to talk and think about new ways to address key justice pain points such as Crime and Law Enforcement, Migration and Human Trafficking, Land and Property Rights, Family Justice, Neighbor Disputes, and Employment Justice. HiiL will also present from its own research based on large scale international studies carried out over 12 years.

Members of the public are encouraged to sign up to attend the Boostcamp.