Since independence in 1991, the Government of Tajikistan has embarked on a land reform program, which includes extensive farm restructuring. Given the demography of rural households in Tajikistan where the phenomenon of female-headed households is quite significant, women‘s access to land and credit assumes special importance. To date, however, no thorough gender analysis of access to land and finance in Tajikistan has been conducted. Households headed by women in Tajikistan are 28.6 percent more likely to be poorer than those headed by men. Improving and securing access to land and ensuring the gender sensitivity of land reforms, therefore, has potential for improving the conditions of these vulnerable households.

This report reflects the first comprehensive quantitative analysis ever conducted in Tajikistan that puts together data on the access of women to land and financial resources. The main data source of the study was the nationally representative Tajikistan Living Standard Survey 2007.

In November 2009, PILCH made a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department on the report of the Access to Justice Taskforce on A Strategic Framework for Access to Justice in the Federal Civil Justice System.

Applying a human rights approach to access to justice, the submission proposed recommendations to encourage and ensure equitable access to the legal system. The submission focused on such issues as public interest litigation, legal costs, non-court models of dispute resolution, self-represented litigants and legal assistance in regional, rural and remote areas.

This report is an exploratory investigative review of access to justice for vulnerable groups. Under the broad heading of ‘Ethnicity, Identity and Sexuality’, the groups focused upon were ‘black and minority groups’, ‘Gypsies and Travellers’, ‘refugees and asylum seekers’ and individuals in a minority group on the basis of ‘sexuality’. It covers evidence available by early 2007 and therefore does not reflect additional evidence or policy changes since then.

Post-conflict governments and donors prioritize rebuilding the justice sector through state delivered rule of law and access to justice programmes. Misunderstanding the nature of the post-colonial state, such programmes make questionable assumptions. First, that a lack of access to state justice is the same as an overall absence of justice. Second, that the state system that is being built is what people want. Third, that the state system of justice
that is being built could provide a sustainable nationwide network in the foreseeable future. Based on interviews conducted with policy designers, practitioners, local people and chiefs at three sites in southern Sudan 2007, this article calls for a rethinking of donor-supported justice and police development and advocates an approach that recognizes the importance of local justice.

This review was undertaken to investigate the evidence base on how adults with mental health problems experience civil, family and criminal justice in the UK. The focus is on both formal justice systems and processes, such as civil and criminal courts and tribunals, and informal ones, such as advice and information. The areas of interest cover criminal, civil, family and employment justice and the research reviewed came from a broad range of academic disciplines and sources, provided they met with the quality criteria set out in advanced of the review.

The original questions of the review focused on the actual experiences adults with mental health problems have when attempting to access justice systems and processes. The main findings were as follows; adults with mental health problems are over-represented in populations of offenders; adults with mental health problems are more at risk of crime victimisation than the general population; adults with mental health problems are likely to experience higher rates of some civil justiciable problems; risk factors associated with mental health problems and offending include homelessness, substance misuse and history of offending. There is evidence prejudicial attitudes within the criminal justice system may result in negative justice outcomes for adults with mental health problems and decisions being made based on an incorrect understanding of mental health problems. Discrimination and prejudice against adults with mental health problems may deter people from disclosing their mental health problems, seeking advice or support for fear of disclosure.

This paper begins with some general observations about access to justice. The paper lists barriers to justice and ways to measure access to justice for the poor in developing countries. Next the paper reviews access to justice programming, with a focus on bottom-up approaches recommended by the UN Commission on Legal Empowerment for the Poor. The paper concludes with a call for a synergetic approach which combines academic research, with practical experience and sustainable models which meet the needs of beneficiaries.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a baseline level of knowledge on the current state of local level justice institutions and access to justice in Sierra Leone’s provinces. This entails a review of what is known and gaps in the knowledge base, coupled with an analysis of recent events, possible entry points, and opportunities for intervention. This background will provide direction for ongoing field research in Sierra Leone, and will help to identify practical solutions to problems of inaccess and inequitable access to justice.

The statute of the CEPEJ emphasizes the comparison of judicial systems and the exchange of knowledge on their functioning. The scope of this comparison is broader than ‘just’ efficiency in a narrow sense: it also emphasizes the quality and the effectiveness of justice. In order to fulfil these tasks, the CEPEJ has undertaken a regular process for evaluating judicial systems of the Council of Europe's member states. The 2010 Edition of the report is based on figures from 2008 concerning 45 states.

The recommendations of Human Rights Watch for the implementation of the European Union’s comprehensive Central Asia strategy, introduced in 2007. Human Rights Watch is convinced that the strategy carries significant potential to be an effective tool for the advancement of human rights in the countries of Central Asia. For this, benchmarking, consultations, and transparency in implementation are of utmost importance in order for the strategy to realize its full
potential impact on human rights. This paper explains why such elements are crucial, provides a brief summary of human rights concerns in each Central Asian country and suggests key actions and benchmarks we hope to see the EU advance as part of its engagement with these countries.

This article details a trial of a new approach to measuring access to justice that utilises human rights instruments as the reference point. It involves an examination of people’s actual experience of the justice system using human rights standards as the benchmark. The research project selected the right to income security. The project trialled a range of methods gathering data about how people have been treated in the Australian social security system and how they would expect to be treated if there was a human right to social security in Australia. This data is assessed against the set of standards developed
to measure the enjoyment of the right to social security. The trial suggests that without knowledge about human rights and legal rights, without the confidence to exercise those rights and without the capacity or capability to seek or find help it is unlikely that people will realise their rights and accordingly access to justice is placed in question. The research methodology has the potential to be a useful model to conduct further access to justice research.