Bridging The Justice Gap: Enshrining Equal Access To Legal Rights For All
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 21
- 1 min read
Deeksha Singh, Indore Institute of Law
ABSTRACT
Access to justice is a cornerstone of democracy, human rights, and social justice. It is the foundation on which an individual can recover and reassert personal rights. Despite wide endorsement, millions in the world carry a potentially overwhelming shield that has to be removed when exercising this right. Socio-educational disadvantage, spatial confinement, social bias, and the poor use of digital media add to the justice gap, and insufficient capacity to claim their right under the law. Women, children, indigenous people, and marginal communities are going to suffer the most. The task of narrowing this justice gap is one of the main priorities for governments, human rights organizations, and civil society. This article investigates the root of the justice gap, which includes socio-economic disparity, geographic isolation, and cultural barriers. It describes the function of legal aid in achieving that bridging, and in the experience of technology-enabled and community-based solutions. Bargaining practices for bridging the justice gap are discussed in the essay through the case studies of Kenya, India, Rwanda, Bangladesh, and the US. The conclusion calls for more urgent reforms in the legal sector, increased investment in legal aid, and the application of technology to make justice systems more inclusive and accessible.
Keywords: US- United States, UNDP- United Nations Development Programme, NGOs- Non Governmental Organization, LRF-Legal Resource Foundation, BRAC- Building Resources Across Communities, ODR-Online Dispute Resolution, AI- Artificial Intelligence.
