Access to justice

Access to justice is a basic principle in rule of law which describes how citizens should have equal access to the legal systems in their context. 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.

"Providing access to justice for all" was adopted as a universal ambition, when it became part of SDG16, one of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. In the context of SDG16 a conceptual model for the global Justice Gap was developed and it was estimated that "5.1 billion people - or two thirds of the world population - do not have meaningful access to justice globally".

Empirical research into access to justice has increased in the past decade, by academics in the field of sociology of law, by researchers working for national or global policy-makers and through legal needs surveys and other efforts to collect people-centered justice data.