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Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- In addition to the costs of legal assistance (see paras. 60-67 below), there are numerous other costs associated with accessing justice which constitute a major barrier for the poor, who simply cannot afford those expenditures. Fees are encountered at every stage of the legal process, along with several indirect costs, such as for obtaining a legal document, witness costs, commissioning independent expertise, photocopies and phone calls. The cumulative impact of those costs is a crucial factor preventing the poor from accessing and benefiting from the justice system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Costs are particularly burdensome in criminal cases, where defendants must often put up large sums of money to be granted bail, or risk long periods of pretrial detention, during which they may have to pay for food or telephone use. Those fees can have the effect of prolonging an individual's detention and exacerbating the conditions in which he or she is detained. Moreover, they result in a situation in which criminal defendants with financial means are in a much more favourable position than those without.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The quality of legal services available to persons living in poverty is significantly undermined by the inadequate allocation by States of human and financial resources to legal aid services. In many instances, the fees legal aid lawyers are paid are far from commensurate with the amount of time and effort required to effectively litigate a criminal or civil case. Legal aid lawyers are often in short supply and overstretched. Legal aid providers therefore have to turn down a large proportion of deserving applications. In many countries, the number of applications for civil legal aid has risen, while resources allocated to legal aid have decreased. The lack of funding also dramatically impedes the quality of free legal services, as legal aid lawyers may be very inexperienced.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Owing to lack of adequate resources and qualified staff, limited budgets and inadequate infrastructure and logistical support, there are often unnecessary delays in adjudicating cases and enforcing judgements. In some jurisdictions, millions of legal cases are pending and civil and criminal cases take up to a decade to be completed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:]
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Provide free interpreters in civil and criminal cases for those who require but cannot afford them
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Allow and support collective litigation when structural or systemic issues affect the rights of persons living in poverty
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Enhance legal skills and knowledge within local communities by, for example, funding and training quality paralegals at the local level
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Put measures in place to ensure that legal, administrative and procedural fees relating to access to justice are waived for those who cannot afford them, including in small claims cases
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Support mechanisms for alternative dispute resolution, where appropriate and in line with international human rights standards, ensuring that such mechanisms do not pose an obstacle to accessing the formal justice system for those that need or prefer it
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that informal justice systems operate in a manner consistent with human rights standards and that there are regulatory mechanisms to prevent and sanction abuses of power and corruption
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that legal aid application procedures take into account the individual experiences, needs and constraints of the poor; eligibility must not be assessed on the basis of household income where the applicant does not have practical access to household resources
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Take measures to reduce the complexity of legal processes and minimize and streamline rules and procedures to make them more accessible for those unfamiliar with the traditions and rules of those processes
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Allow class action suits, or alternative mechanisms for bundling claims, and in relevant areas permit socially relevant litigation to have erga omnes effects, to ensure that those who do not have access to courts can benefit from judicial decisions
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Continue to extend and expand equal access to the formal justice system for persons living in poverty, even in areas where non-State legal orders operate
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Review or abolish legislation that directly or indirectly discriminates against the rights, interests and livelihoods of persons living in poverty
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Establish mechanisms to oversee the legality and reasonableness of administrative and policy decisions that have an impact on the enjoyment by the poor of their rights
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that serious crimes, including gender-based crimes or sexual violence, are dealt with within the formal justice system
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Expand the geographical reach of the justice system (police, prosecutors, courts, legal aid, etc.) in particular in rural and remote areas, by: Creating incentives for police officers and other officials to take postings in rural and remote areas, and attracting well-trained legal professionals to those areas
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure the possibility of strategic (public interest) litigation to challenge national laws or policies, to demand enforcement of existing laws or to strike down discriminatory laws that affect the poor
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that legal aid lawyers are independent, adequately trained and remunerated, and meet the highest standards of the legal profession
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that lawyers and paralegals have access to people living in poverty who require their services in police stations, pretrial detention and prison facilities
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that cases where the rights of persons living in poverty are at stake are not subject to long delays which might exacerbate their situation
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that, in linguistically plural societies, court processes operate in languages used by the poorest communities where necessary and can adapt to intercultural communication
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that courts extend legal standing without discrimination to all persons regardless of, inter alia, their gender, ethnicity, legal status or lack of formal legal registration
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Economic inequality can be used to refer to a range of inequalities relating to the distribution of income (from labour or capital) or wealth (such as financial assets or land) between individuals in a society. Economic inequalities are often expressed using the Gini coefficient of inequality, which varies between 0 (expressing perfect equality) and 1 (expressing perfect inequality: for instance when one individual owns all the wealth in a society), but there are a multitude of other ways to measure and present economic inequalities. The magnitude of the problem of economic inequalities is dependent on what exactly is being measured and how. An indicator measuring only labour income inequality may be ineffectual if those in the upper quintile or decile derive their income from wealth instead of labour. Measuring wealth inequality by looking at domestic tax data may lead to different results than if wealth distribution is measured by taking only household surveys into account.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Current income-inequality figures are quite dramatic. According to a 2008 study by the International Labour Organization (ILO), over the past two decades the income gap between the top and bottom 10 per cent of wage earners increased in 70 per cent of the countries for which data was available. According to a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study, the gap between rich and poor in OECD countries is at its highest level in 30 years. In 2007, the average executive manager in the 15 largest firms in the United States of America earned more than 500 times what the average employee in the United States earned, compared with over 300 times in 2003, and similar patterns can be observed in many other countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- One indicator that gives a detailed overview of income inequalities, at least for most countries in the global North, is the World Top Incomes Database (http://topincomes.parisschoolofeconomics.eu). In the United States, in 2012, the top 1 per cent of earners received almost 20 per cent of the national income. The top 10 per cent of earners received almost half of the national income. These figures contrast sharply with those of previous decades in the United States or with figures in other developed countries. In 1973, the top 1 per cent in the United States earned approximately 8 per cent of the national income and the top 10 per cent earned about 32 per cent. In Sweden, in 2012, the top 1 per cent earned around 7 per cent of the national income, from a low of around 4 per cent in 1981, and the top 10 per cent earned around 28 per cent of the national income, from a low of around 22 per cent in 1984. Income inequality in the United States in 2012 is comparable to income inequality in Colombia in 2010, where the top 1 per cent of earners also received about 20 per cent of the national income.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Mr. Piketty shows that in 1970 the wealthiest 10 per cent in Europe owned about 60 per cent of all wealth, while in the United States the figure was about 65 per cent. Today, that share has increased by 5 percentage points in both places. In January 2015, Oxfam International presented figures showing that the richest 1 per cent of the world have seen their share of global wealth increase from 44 per cent in 2009 to 48 per cent in 2014, with a prediction that it will exceed 50 per cent by 2016. Of the remaining wealth, only 5.5 per cent goes to those outside the top quintile.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has developed several indicators that measure social and horizontal inequalities. An inequality-adjusted human development index, calculated for 145 countries, indicates how achievements in the areas of health, education and income are distributed among a population. UNDP also publishes the coefficient of human inequality, which is a calculation of average inequality across the three dimensions mentioned above. UNDP further measures gender inequality in its gender inequality index. Looking at these different indices, which are not always as intuitive as the income indices described above, it becomes clear that many countries do not even come close to the levels of equality in terms of health, education and gender that exist in the more egalitarian countries. Where Norway had an inequality-adjusted human development index value of 0.891 in 2013, indicating a high level of equality in comparison with other countries, the figures in countries such as the United States (0.755), the Russian Federation (0.685), Chile (0.661), India (0.418) and the Central African Republic (0.203) are much lower. The gender-related development index (female to male ratio of the human development index) ranges from very high levels of equality between men and women in Norway (0.997) to a very high level of gender inequality in Afghanistan (0.602).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph