A RAG rating approach forms the foundation for the Resources and Infrastructure, ‘Justice Services’, element of the Rapid Justice Assessment.
RAG ratings identify threshold values which allow the user to signify ratings of justice services along a standardised scale.
In cases of binary responses (“yes”, “no”), there was no amber rating.
Thresholds for all 110 indicators were identified to determine whether an indicator is ‘Red’, ‘Amber’, or ‘Green’. Thresholds were informed by three question-dependent rules.
Where national representation is used to inform RAG ratings, sample means (excluding outlying residuals) are calculated. Sample means then form the basis for RAG identification.
Example: In Police “Investigators per 100 thousand” – the sample mean excluding outliers is calculated, if the indicator value is greater than the sample mean, then the value is green, if it’s the same or 25% below, it is amber, anything below that 25% threshold is red.
Where explicit national policy targets can be used to inform thresholds, these targets have been integrated into RAG model.
Example: In Government’s 10 Year Perspectives Development Plan 2020-2030, there is a target of 50% participation of Women in 3 branches of Government. Therefore, a 50% participation threshold informs the RAG ratings for all indicators that involve Women.
Where either point 1 or 2 do not fit, an ‘access to justice’ approach has informed thresholds. This means utilizing numbers of institutions that provide or do not provide a service within a given zone, as a barometer for potential service provision and thus accessibility.
Example: Police Indicator “Facilities with Women and Children Units” – from Phase 1 Collection, the highest possible number of police stations in a zone is 25 (Arsi, Oromia). 1 out of 25 is 4%, therefore a 4% value was used to inform thresholds.
In all cases, this methodology is not rigid. It adopts and learns from past Justice Snapshot and Audit methodologies to re-calibrate, or further sensitize, thresholds to best fit institutional and national pictures.