Access to Justice

Category: Policy Areas | Back to Glossary

Accessible justiceTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... systems – both formal and informal – ensure that individuals and communities with legal needs know where to go for help, obtain the help they need, and move through a system that offers procedural, substantive, and expeditious justice.

Technical specifications: Includes any commitments that affect dispute resolution processes or people’s access to them (this could include any forms of adjudication, mediation, or arbitration.). It also includes commitments about legal assistance (ex: legal aidMore and better information about aid helps partner countries and donor institutions plan and manage aid resources more effectively, parliaments and civil society to hold governments accountable for t..., paralegals, access to lawyers) or commitments that affect citizens’ ability to get justice (ex: administrative portals) and commitments that affect citizens’ access to legal identity, but it does not include judiciaryWhile a majority of open government reforms occur within the executive branch, OGP members are increasingly taking on commitments to increase the openness of the judicial branch. Technical specificati... commitments related to transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More (ex: publishing court statistics, making video footage of hearings accessible) because they do not affect individual citizens’ ability to get justice (these commitments are still tagged as “Judiciary” commitments).

See also: Open JusticeAn open, independent, and impartial justice system serves as a foundation for better access to justice by fulfilling all people’s civil liberties and allowing individuals to more effectively protect..., Judiciary