What is Access to Justice?

Abstract

Access to justice is the most pressing justice issue today. It has recently and very quickly become the major focus of attention of essentially all stakeholders in the legal community – governments, regulators, judges, bar associations, researchers and educators. And it needs also to become an increasing topic of attention for those who use the system – the public. But with all of this new attention, do we really know what we are talking about? What does the phrase "access to justice" mean, particularly from the perspective of the public? Primarily through a series of qualitative interviews, this study looks to better understand the concepts of justice and access to justice, particularly through the eyes of the public. This study fits within a growing wave of literature and recent reform efforts that are looking to refocus the justice system so as to put the public squarely at the centre of those efforts.

Keywords: Justice, access to justice, professionalism, procedure, practice, reform, administration of justice

JEL Classification: K00, K19, K41, Z18