The main concern in seeking equal access to justice is to ensure that justice systems are fair, impartial, accessible and inclusive for all people regardless of their gender, race, religion, political or other opinion, national origin, socio-economic status or other status. This concern is grounded in the principles of human rights, the rule of law and the promotion of social justice, that are the foundation of the UN Charter.
Equality means everything. Everyone in society should enjoy all access to equal rights without any discrimination or bias. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 25 states that “all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law.”
Achieving this goal entails improving access to legal services, such as, legal aid for marginalized and vulnerable populations, addressing gender-based discrimination within the justice system, recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples to access justice in culturally appropriate ways that are respectful of their traditional systems of justice, where applicable, ensuring that justice systems are accessible to persons with disabilities, and child sensitive. In post-conflict settings it often involves achieving reconciliation through mechanisms such as truth commissions and reparations programs.
It is estimated that 1.5 billion people have unmet criminal, civil or administrative justice needs. They are unable to use the law to defend themselves from violence and crime, protect their rights or resolve disputes peacefully. In a number of countries, the law still actively discriminates against women, who in effect enjoy only three quarters of the legal rights of men.
With the adoption of SDG 16 and along with it, target 16.3, the international community undertook to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and to ensure equal access to justice for all.
There are many challenges that hinder access to justice, including inadequate legislation and policies, limited financial resources, a lack of knowledge of which services exist and how to access them, and insufficient numbers of qualified legal actors to effectively deliver support. Furthermore, measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the closing of courts, had a massive impact on pre-trial detainees, prisoners and victims of crime and put a spotlight on the absence of mechanisms for accessing justice in many countries. A resort to remote hearings often impacted the rights to due process and to a fair trial, and excluded poor persons, as they did not have the means to pay for or understand how to use the required technology. These barriers to justice have a negative impact on the economy which results in increased poverty and exclusion.
Overcoming these challenges will require:
- promoting access to legal aid in the justice systems, which includes legal advice, assistance and representation provided at no cost for those without sufficient means or when the interests of justice so require;
- human-rights based and gender-sensitive justice reform, including police reform;
- increasing the efficiency, accountability, and integrity of criminal justice institutions;
- widening the use of restorative justice;
- protecting, assisting and supporting victims of crime;
- addressing hate crimes;
- ensuring access to justice for groups facing discrimination and exclusion and addressing discrimination within the justice system.
