A/67/278 58. Persons living in poverty are more likely than other individuals to be confronted with requests for bribes and to resort to paying bribes. 15 Moreover, bribes represent a greater burden for persons living in poverty, often meaning that they have to sell assets or sacrifice their health or education in order to meet such demands. Evidence shows that women are more likely to be affected by demands for bribes within the justice system 16 and in many cases they are also subject to harassment or abuse by law enforcement officers. 59. Persons living in poverty are not only denied access to justice when they are unable to meet the cost of bribes or of engaging in other corrupt activities, but they are also deterred from accessing the justice system when they perceive the system to be corrupt. D. Non-existent or inadequate legal assistance 60. The right to legal assistance, enshrined in many major global and regional human rights instruments, is essential for ensuring due process and equality before the courts. The provision of free and competent legal advice and assistance to those who are otherwise unable to afford it is a fundamental prerequisite for ensuring that all individuals have fair and equal access to judicial and adjudicatory mechanisms. 61. International human rights law explicitly establishes the right to free legal assistance in criminal proceedings (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 14). This is particularly important for those living in poverty, who face a range of obstacles in negotiating bail procedures, pretrial detention, trials and sentencing, and appeals. Nonetheless, free legal aid should not only be provided in criminal matters, but also in civil matters when individuals do not have sufficient resources to pay for legal assistance and, without such assistance, they are prevented from asserting their rights. 17 For example, when domestic law requires that individuals be represented by counsel to access judicial protection, the failure to provide free legal aid to persons without financial means would constitute a violation of the right to a fair trial and to effective judicial protection. 62. Lack of legal aid for civil matters can seriously prejudice the rights and interests of persons living in poverty, for example when they are unable to contest tenancy disputes, eviction decisions, immigration or asylum proceedings, eligibility for social security benefits, abusive working conditions, discrimination in the workplace or child custody decisions. Indeed, exclusion of certain categories of claims from the scope of free legal aid, such as housing or immigration proceedings, or exclusion from representation before quasi-judicial tribunals, such as welfare or employment appeal boards, discriminates against the poor. Moreover, the legal __________________ 15 16 17 14 Report on the Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2007 (Berlin, Transparency International, 2007). UN-Women Report 2011-2012, p. 54. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 32, para. 10; draft universal declaration on the independence of justice, art. 95; Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, principle art. 1. This right is also well established in some regional mechanisms, see e.g. European Court of Human Rights, Airey v. Ireland (Application No. 6289/73) and Steel and Morris v. The United Kingdom (Application No. 68416/01); and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Exceptions to the Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies, Advisory Opinion OC-11/90, August 10, 1990 (Ser. A) No. 11 (1990). 12-45806