A/67/278
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and
human rights
Summary
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human
rights analyses the obstacles to access to justice for persons living in poverty. Access
to justice is a fundamental right in itself and essential for the protection and
promotion of all other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. Without
effective and affordable access to justice, persons living in poverty are denied the
opportunity to claim their rights or challenge crimes, abuses or human rights violations
committed against them. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that improving access to
justice for persons living in poverty requires tackling a range of legal and extralegal
obstacles present both within and outside of the formal justice system, including
social, economic and structural obstacles.
Contents
Page
I.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
II.
Normative framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
III.
Obstacles which impede persons living in poverty from accessing justice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
A.
Social and cultural barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
B.
Legal and normative barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
C.
Institutional and structural obstacles in the justice chain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
D.
Non-existent or inadequate legal assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
E.
Structural problems of judicial processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
F.
Challenges in ensuring human rights are upheld in informal justice systems . . . . . . . . . .
19
Conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
IV.
2
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