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Disadvantaged Groups: Programming for Justice

Author: United Nations Development Programme
Date: 2005
Size: 21 pages (2 MB)

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Summary

How can access to justice for disadvantaged groups be improved? This section of a United Nations Development Programme publication explains how capacity development strategies can use a rights-based approach to specifically address the problems of disadvantaged groups and to work with them to create solutions. A holistic range of support should be provided since legal advice is often not the most pressing need of disadvantaged groups. Civil society can play an important role.

The chapter focuses on groups such as: the rural and urban poor; women; minorities; migrants, refugees and internally displaced people; those living with HIV; and people with disabilities. The issues faced by different groups may overlap, with multiple disadvantages impeding access to justice. In-depth analysis of each situation is necessary to determine who is disadvantaged in a particular context.

While each disadvantaged group faces specific barriers in accessing justice, many barriers are economic factors such as fees, travel costs, the cost of time off work and inability to pay bribes. Disadvantaged groups may fear and mistrust formal institutions and fear reprisal or social ostracism if they make a complaint. Other common barriers are:

Legal and institutional discrimination: Even when laws themselves are not discriminatory, systematic or de facto biases and discrimination against disadvantaged groups may result in unfair rulings, inappropriate conduct or inadequate services for disadvantaged groups. Informal systems can be equally discriminating against certain groups, as traditional laws may benefit those who are positions of power.
Insensitivity/lack of awareness of particular needs: Even when disadvantaged groups are able to access the formal system, they may not receive the services they require or may be mistreated by legal personnel.
Lack of physical access to courts: Claimants may need to travel long distances to reach a court. For people with disabilities, physically getting into the courthouse may also prove to be difficult.
Insufficient outreach to disadvantaged groups: The formal justice system must provide disadvantaged groups with access to information through legal awareness and literacy programmes so that they know what services are available and how to seek remedies for grievances.
Insufficient support for alternative mechanisms: Civil society organisations, formal and informal Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods and traditional and indigenous justice systems are an extremely important component of access to justice programmes. They may be more widely available and accessible than formal justice mechanisms.
Language and literacy: Disadvantaged groups may not only be intimidated by formal court processes and language, but they may not be able to communicate in the official language or may have difficulty completing forms.

A holistic approach is important in addressing these challenges. A range of assistance should be offered alongside legal aid, such as literacy programmes, food, health services, drug counselling, employment schemes, housing support and credit. Civil society can help to fill organisational, networking and technical gaps within and among disadvantaged groups, especially as the needs of such groups may be neglected by the state. Among the many specific recommendations made concerning particular disadvantaged groups, some examples include:

Waiving or subsidising the cost of court processes
Providing housing assistance and transportation to courts
Setting up mobile legal clinics to reach those in remote areas, strengthening legal aid services in rural areas and in poor communities and targeting legal aid to particular groups
Conducting legal awareness initiatives
Locating courts at the regional or district level
Strengthening informal dispute resolution mechanisms

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Source: UNDP, 2005, 'Disadvantaged Groups' in Programming for Justice: Access for All, A Practitioner's Guide to a Human Rights-Based Approach to Access to Justice, United Nations Development Programme, New York, ch. 6.
Author: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), http://www.undp.org/