Samenvatting

Feedback loops may be critical components for a learning system, such as the legal aid system in The Netherlands. They, however, are not ubiquitous in the broader domain of access to justice. This paper explores how such feedback loops can help governments to get things done by making systems like the legal aid system evidence-based. The paper explores the potential on the basis of the approach and data from a monitoring and evaluation study of the temporary Arrangement Advice Certificate Self-Efficacy.

In recent years, indications emerged that the assumption of self-efficacy in the Dutch Legal Aid Law might have been an impediment for accessing subsidised legal aid for citizens who suffered from the childcare benefits situation. The temporary Arrangement Advice Certificate Self-efficacy envisages to fix this potential flaw. The example shows how insights in the people using the arrangement, their legal problems and situations, the nature and effectiveness of interventions under the arrangement, and the experiences of people and the professionals helping them, can inform changes in policy.