Access to justice is a basic principle in

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

which describe how citizens have equal access to the legal systems in their context. Most contexts have initiatives and programs are designed to provide legal services to populations that may otherwise have difficulty obtaining legal advice and representation. Without access to justice, people are not able to fully exercise their rights, challenge discrimination, or hold decision-makers accountable for their actions. The manner in which nations help their citizens gain access to justice vary by nation. Access to justice may be increased through properly funded and staffed legal aid organizations that provide free legal services to the poor, and through pro bono programs through which volunteer attorneys provide services and representation, or through other programs designed to help people gain. Access to justice is a broad concept that includes legal remedies in courts but also in other institutions of justice.

International initiatives

Free Access to Law Movement

The

Free Access to Law Movement The Free Access to Law Movement (FALM) is the international movement and organization devoted to providing free online access to legal information such as case law, legislation, treaties, law reform proposals and legal scholarship. The movement b ...

(FALM) was founded in 1992, with the goal of providing free online access to basic legal information and resources. In 2002, FALM adopted the Declaration on Free Access to Law. The goal of the movement has been to ensure that legal information is freely available to everyone. The declaration declared public legal information to be the common heritage of mankind. The member organizations of FALM, primarily through the Internet, engaged in widespread publication of primary and secondary legal information. Early examples include the

Legal Information Institute The Legal Information Institute (LII) is a non-profit, public service of Cornell Law School that provides no-cost access to current American and international legal research sources online alaw.cornell.edu The organization is a pioneer in the del ...

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

and the

Australasian Legal Information Institute The Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) is an institution operated jointly by the Faculties of Law of the University of Technology Sydney and the University of New South Wales. Its public policy purpose is to improve access to just ...

, a joint project of the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

and the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

. The latter involved early adoption of hypertext technology to represent laws as a network of nodes, each representing a section.Legal_Information_Institutes.htm
/ref> In 2013, Cornell Law School established the ''Journal of Open Access to Law'', to promote international research on the topic of open access to law.

Initiatives by country

Japan

Japan Legal Support Center, which is abbreviated as JLSC, provides a legal access to justice in any place in Japan. JLSC was founded on April 10, 2006 and started its operation on October 2, 2006. JLSC has 50 local offices and 11 branch offices of the local offices.

Myanmar

MyJustice is a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

-funded Access to Justice Initiative aiming to equip the people of

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

with the knowledge, confidence and opportunities to resolve conflicts fairly, equitably and justly. Since 2015 they have setting up a number of "justice centres" across Myanmar to improve access to justice by offering free legal advice to low-income and marginalised people, as well as being involved in projects relating to the introduction of legal aid and legal training.

Pakistan

Access to Justice Initiatives (AJI) are a cluster of projects carried out by the

Sarhad Rural Support Programme The Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) is the largest NGO, non-governmental organization working to Poverty reduction, alleviate poverty in North West Pakistan. It was established in 1989 with the aim of reducing poverty and ensuring sustainab ...

(SRSP) in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, which aim at enhancing

legal awareness Legal awareness, sometimes called public legal education or legal literacy, is the empowerment of individuals regarding issues involving the law.empowering Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

citizens at the

grass-roots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

level by enabling them to

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...

for their

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

and seek remedies for their legal problems.

Configuration

Access to Justice Initiatives comprises the following projects: # Legal Empowerment # Aitebaar Alternate Dispute Resolution # Aitebaar Awareness Rising # Strengthening Rule of Law in Malakand # Community Based Conflict Resolution

Features

A common feature of the projects is that they all aim at strengthening the capacity of the

disadvantaged The "disadvantaged" is a generic term for individuals or groups of people who: * Face special problems such as physical or mental disability * Lack money or economic supportKingdom of Nepal: Economic and Social Inclusion of the Disadvantaged Poo ...

communities to protect their

and to participate and hold public institutions

accountable Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the ...

. In traditional hierarchical societies,

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.marginalized and vulnerable groups. The projects seek to addresses issues of weak links among justice mechanisms and a lack of reliable legal support. Some of the projects focus on the informal

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

institutions so that

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

methods can be used to settle disputes at community level, while helping to create a forum for dialogue between the formal and informal mechanisms. Members of the communities are trained as

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

s to bridge the gap between the most vulnerable members of society and the state institutions. In remote and backward areas of

the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

at large is reluctant in trusting the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

s but shows greater inclination in trusting notables of their own communities, who often resolve disputes via the

Jirga A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...

system. The paralegals and mediators are briefed about

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

legal system The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history an ...

and the limits of their authority in solving complicated disputes. This ensures that rights of the participants are not forfeited. The Dispute Resolution Councils (DRC’s) set up in this respect are required to work in collaboration the

local police Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive funding ...

to ensure transparency and efficiency. A significant number of women have been trained as mediators and

to make the programme more receptive to

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

Legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...

is provided to individuals whose troubles cannot be resolved through

negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement c ...

conciliation Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties both separately and together in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering te ...

mediation Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...

or other informal method's. Very often, case which merit legal aid involve issues of

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

, matrimonial cruelty,

child custody Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the righ ...

, deprivation of inheritance,

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

etc.

United States

Because the traditional model for delivery services demanded all legal work to be done in a bespoke manner the supply of legal services is generally

inelastic In economics, elasticity measures the percentage change of one economic variable in response to a percentage change in another. If the price elasticity of the demand of something is -2, a 10% increase in price causes the demand quantity to fall ...

. Households that are ineligible for

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...

but are not able to easily afford bespoke legal services are effectively underserved by the traditional model. A report by the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services found that "among moderate-income households, 39% used the legal system to attempt resolution of their legal problems, 23% attempted resolution without legal help, and 26% took no action."

Technological solutions

Lawyers, designers, and computers scientists have considered ways to use technology to improve access to justice for people who cannot afford a lawyer. Often called justice technology, this "refers to a technology or data project that is used in the administration of a justice system or service, creates access to that system or service, or increases the agency of justice system-involved people through support, like information or assistance." While there is increased attention and funding going into the justice technology sector, it has yet to see large scale successes. There are numerous university-based programs working at the intersection of access to justice and technology: The

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

started a Judicial Innovation Fellowship program in the fall of 2022. The novel program will place private industry technologists in state and tribal courts to develop new software that improves the public's access to justice and court administration. The

Berkman Center The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 200 ...

at Harvard Law School has been working with Massachusetts housing court judge Dina Fein to design access to civil justice in the state for pro se litigants, low-income people, litigants who aren't proficient in English, and people with disabilities.

CodeX The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, hosts projects such as Legal.io and

Ravel Law Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

, addressing the application of legal informatics to access to justice issues, and convenes a community bringing researchers, lawyers, entrepreneurs and technologists together to work side-by-side to advance the frontier of legal technology.

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

(IIT's) Institute of Design and the

Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...

collaborated on a multi-year redesign of self-represented litigants' court experience. Their 2002 report documented their investigation of current assistance systems, creation of a new design protocol, and plan for a new system design. The report also puts forward a number of concept designs, reimagining how the court system may work and people may access it. Some of their proposals include: * "CourtNet", a network inside the court building, to link together judicial staff and the public; * "Interactive Translator", a software tool that can be used in interviewing and court exchanges, able to translate verbal and text communications into different languages; * "Archetypes", a diagnosis platform that models users' legal problems, classifies them, and offers referral services; * "Pursuit Evaluator", an online tool to allow potential litigants evaluate whether pursuing a case would be worth their time, money, and effort * "Complaint Formulator", an electronic interface to let litigants extract data from their problem situation and assemble it into various legal documents; * "Informer", software that uses sample cases to help litigants model their own forms and teaches them how to file correctly; and * "Case Tracker", an interactive searchable archive of a litigant's case history, that provides a clear timeline and reference to past actions.

References

{{Reflist Legal aid Rural development in Pakistan Human rights organisations based in Pakistan