Enhancing Public Confidence in the Judiciary System: A Case Study of Puntland State of Somalia

Public trust in the judiciary is fundamental for upholding the rule of law and ensuring democratic stability. However, in Puntland, Somalia, issues such as fairness, accessibility, and the influence of politics or clans may deter citizens from utilizing formal courts. This study assessed the level of public trust in the judiciary in Qardho, Garowe, and Bossaso. A cross-sectional mixed-methods approach was employed, involving a survey of 400 residents using a KOBO-based structured questionnaire and 12 key informant interviews with judges, lawyers, elders, and religious leaders. Quantita-tive data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, correlations, chi-square tests, and regression in Stata, while qual-itative data underwent thematic analysis. Overall, confidence was moderate: 62% agreed that the judiciary is fair and impartial, 55.25% had confidence in judges' independence, 63.5% trusted the enforcement of decisions, and 62.5% viewed processes as transparent. Confidence was most strongly linked to perceived enforcement (ρ = 0.730), judicial in-dependence (ρ = 0.699), and fairness (ρ = 0.686), with age (p = 0.001) and education (p < 0.001) significantly associated with confidence, unlike gender (p = 0.497) and work experience (p = 0.384). Enhancing decision enforcement, transpar-ency, access to information, and protections for judicial independence is vital for boosting public trust.