The central theme of this conference, organized within the framework of the IAP research programme Justice and Populations: The Belgian Experience in International Perspective (IAP 7/22, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office), is research on experiences of justice. It focuses on justice-society relationships from the viewpoint of the citizen, as both subject and client of legal and judicial systems. Although (historical) research on law and justice is often focused on judicial institutions and their staff, the aim of this conference is to put a spotlight on the role of citizens in judicial practices, from a bottom-up perspective. This kind of approach makes it possible to explore the experiences, attitudes and motivations of clients of legal and judicial systems and examine the complex ways in which they interact with judicial/police authorities. Citizens are not merely to be seen as passive subjects meekly acquiescing in state practised repression; rather, they are forces that turn to, and make use of, the police and the courts to actively serve their own ends.