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| 1 |
ID:
188998
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| Summary/Abstract |
Access to justice is often described as key for building and consolidating peace and enhancing socio-economic development in fragile and post-conflict states. Since the 2000s, legal empowerment has been one of the most popular approaches to improve such access, and a growing literature has presented mixed evidence on the quality of its outcomes. We evaluate and discuss the impact of a locally provisioned legal aid program on justice-seekers’ use of dispute resolution fora, legal agency, and trust in judicial institutions. The program was implemented between 2011 and 2014 in 26 municipalities of rural Burundi. We consider its effects on 486 beneficiaries using various propensity score-matching methods and data on non-beneficiaries from two distinct control groups (n = 3,267). Forty-eight interviews with key informants help discuss judicial practices. We find that the program increased the use of courts but not trust in the judiciary. It had no significant impact on the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Qualitative and quantitative evidence suggests that justice-seekers’ perception of the treatment they received in courts, also known as procedural justice, shaped their perception of accessing justice. Qualitative evidence also points to a possible ‘watchdog effect’: in some cases, the presence of a legal adviser may have pushed judges to better comply with procedures. While legal aid programs can improve access to courts, it does not necessarily mean an erosion of judicial ‘forum shopping’ or that trust in state institutions is reinforced and rights fully realized.
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| 2 |
ID:
114763
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| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article discusses the relationship between access to justice and the rule of law, outlines the current financial and operational limitations with regard to full access to justice in Zambia and describes a practical project, undertaken by the Law Association of Zambia and the South London Law Society, supported by London South Bank University, to enhance access to justice in Zambia and thereby strengthen the rule of law. It encourages others, particularly Bars and Law Societies, law firms and University Law Schools, to undertake similar projects in Zambia and across the Commonwealth wherever they may be required.
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| 3 |
ID:
163686
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| Summary/Abstract |
Corporations are part of the fabric of society. As members of American society-often, very powerful and influential ones-corporations have a deep interest in the health of the nation's democracy, a mainstay of which is the system of justice writ large. The concept of justice for all is so important to this democracy that the founders placed it in the Constitution's first line. But the system is not perfect. Attaining equal justice for all citizens and governing by the rule of law too often are merely aspirations. Corporations have a stake in ensuring that their disputes with others are resolved fairly, in a legal system that is viewed as treating all litigants equally under the law, regardless of size, wealth, or power. Corporate engagement in strengthening legal services in the United States is, in this way, an expression of corporate self-interest.
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