Microjustice

31 Pages Posted: 20 Oct 2007 Last revised: 14 Aug 2009

See all articles by Maurits Barendrecht

Maurits Barendrecht

Tilburg Law School; HiiL Innovating Justice; Hague Institute for Innovation of Law; Hague Institute for Innovation of Law

Patricia van Nispen

Microjustice4All

Date Written: February 1, 2008

Abstract

In this essay, we introduce the concept of Microjustice as an approach to tackle the problem of access to justice for those with limited resources. In addition to existing perspectives, we propose to analyze the justice sector as a 'market' with its corresponding chain of supply and a demand. The challenge is to develop processes that are affordable to users with limited resources, whilst making it attractive for the providers of justice to act as suppliers. Microjustice allows the demand for justice and the supply of justice to meet by using tools of the modern services economy: information technology, economies of scale, cheaper labor at the place of delivery, flexible adjustment to local circumstances, self-help and empowerment of the user. The analogy to microfinance is instructive.

We first explore how the market for justice works and why justice does not reach the poor. Next, we proceed to the development principles for Microjustice, drawing on the work of Prahalad and Hart regarding markets at the 'Bottom of the Pyramid.' We also show that legal systems are surrounded by knowledge that has an enormous potential for innovation, but are not yet open enough to use this potential. We give some examples of how Microjustice could look like in practice. Then we investigate the limitations of the market perspective and possible other objections to the Microjustice approach. We conclude by inviting the legal sector service providers, NGO's and other institutions working on access to rights to consider the development of innovative services in the spirit of microjustice. Moreover, we urge governments and donors to think about access to justice programs in terms of creating a climate for innovation and a business climate that stimulates legal service providers to deliver their services at the bottom of the pyramid.

Keywords: access to justice, legal services

JEL Classification: D63, D73, D74, K41, K42, O17, O31

Suggested Citation

Barendrecht, Maurits and van Nispen tot Sevenaer, Patricia, Microjustice (February 1, 2008). TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2008-010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1022936 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1022936

Maurits Barendrecht (Contact Author)

Tilburg Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
NL-5000 LE Tilburg
Netherlands
0031134662298 (Phone)

HiiL Innovating Justice ( email )

Warandelaan 2
P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.hiil.org

Hague Institute for Innovation of Law ( email )

Den Haag
Netherlands
+31 70 762 0700 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.hiil.org

Hague Institute for Innovation of Law ( email )

Den Haag
Netherlands
+31 70 762 0700 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.hiil.org

Patricia Van Nispen tot Sevenaer

Microjustice4All ( email )

Zeestraat 100
2518AD The Hague
Netherlands
+31651112738 (Phone)

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