Access To Justice For A New Century

This book is a timely addition to the literature on access to justice. The book's essays address all aspects of the topic, including differing views on the meaning of access to justice; ways to improve access to legal services; litigation and its role in achieving social justice; and the roles of lawyers, citizens, and legal insitutions. Access to Justice for a New Century is based on papers given at an international symposium presented by the Law Society of Upper Canada, sponsored by the Law Foundation of Ontario.

This book examines the question of whether justice or security is the primary virtue of 21st-century society. The issue of enhancing security without undermining justice – managing risk without undermining the rule of law – has always been problematic. However, recent developments such as new counter-terrorism measures, the expanding scope of criminal law, harsher migration control and an increasingly pronounced concern with public safety, have posed new challenges. The key element of these contemporary challenges is that of membership and exclusion: that is, who is to be included within the community of justice, and against whom is the just community aiming to defend itself? Justice and Security in the 21st Century brings together researchers from various academic disciplines and different countries in order to explore these developments. It attempts to chart the complex landscapes of justice, human rights and the rule of law in an era when such ideals are challenged by increasing demands for efficiency, effectiveness, public safety and security. This edited volume will be of much interest to students of critical legal studies, criminology, critical security studies, human rights, sociology and IR in general.

Around the world, access to justice enjoys an energetic and passionate resurgence as an object both of scholarly inquiry and political contest, as both a social movement and a value commitment motivating study and action. This work evidences a deeper engagement with social theory than past generations of scholarship.

Around four billion people globally are unable to address their everyday legal problems and do not have the security, opportunity or protection to redress their grievances and injustices.

Dealing with the aftermath of civil conflict or the fall of a repressive government continues to trouble countries throughout the world. Whereas much of the 1990s was occupied with debates concerning the relative merits of criminal prosecutions and truth commissions, by the end of the decade a consensus emerged that this either/or approach was inappropriate and unnecessary. A second generation of transitional justice experiences have stressed both truth and justice and recognize that a single method may inadequately serve societies rebuilding after conflict or dictatorship. Based on studies in ten countries, this book analyzes how some combine multiple institutions, others experiment with community-level initiatives that draw on traditional law and culture, whilst others combine internal actions with transnational or international ones. The authors argue that transitional justice efforts must also consider the challenges to legitimacy and local ownership emerging after external military intervention or occupation.

Family justice requires not only a legal framework within which personal obligations are regulated over the life course, but also a justice system which can deliver legal information, advice and support at times of change of status or family stress, together with mechanisms for negotiation, dispute management and resolution, with adjudication as the last resort. The past few years have seen unparalleled turbulence in the way family justice systems function. These changes are associated with economic constraints in many countries, including England and Wales, where legal aid for private family matters has largely disappeared. But there is also a change in ideology in a number of jurisdictions, including Canada, towards what is sometimes called neo-liberalism, whereby the state seeks to reduce its area of activity while at the same time maintaining strong views on family values. Legal services may become fragmented and marketised, and the role of law and lawyers reduced, while self-help web based services expand. The contributors to this volume share their anxieties about the impact on the ability of individuals to achieve fair and informed resolution in family matters.

Hon Russell Fox argues that the existing common law procedural system is not equal to the demands of the coming century. Beginning with a thoroughly researched analysis of the large scale dissatisfaction with and disaffection from the present day courts, this book proposes means for approaching Justice in the Twenty-First Century. This book is essential reading for all lawyers, judges, politicians and citizens interested in the question of remedying the significant problems plaguing the current system for the provision of justice in Australia, England and the United States. Foreword provided by the Rt Hon Lord Irvine of Lairg, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.