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.

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.

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.

Access to Justice in Africa and Beyond is an in-depth look at the laws in place throughout Africa and the fact that these laws are not enforced. Legal aid is crucial to helping certain nations to develop into places of safety and social justice. More than 15 professionals from Penal Reform International and the Bluhm Legal Clinic of the Northwestern University School of Law contributed papers that all focus on the complex issues surrounding justice in Africa. This book offers a review of access to justice and legal reform in Africa. The chapters range from covering broad topics such as penal reform in Africa to examples from international best-practice and specific case studies from Africa.

In this white paper, the authors argue that the gap between America’s promise of equal justice and the reality of justice on the ground is substantial, and growing. Meaningful access to the courts—consisting of representation by counsel, the ability to physically enter court and understand and participate in the proceedings, and the opportunity to have claims heard—is increasingly out of reach for many Americans.

This paper is for practitioners working on access to justice. It presents a case for UNDP to increase its engagement with informal justice systems so that we can better strengthen access to justice for poor and disadvantaged people.

Justice sector reform is a rapidly expanding area, however informal justice systems still remain largely neglected by UNDP and most multi-lateral and bi-lateral development assistance. This is somewhat surprising as the poor and disadvantaged are infrequent users of the formal justice system and UNDP’s niche lies in ensuring access to justice for those who are poor and disadvantaged.

The report is a follow-up to an International Conference on the 'Alternatives to imprisonment in Kazakhstan' held in Almaty from 27 to 30 October 1999. Subjects discussed at the conference included alternatives to pre-trial detention, alternatives to custodial sentences, various types of conditional-early release, the role of and questions surrounding the reorganisation of the criminal-executive inspection system, restorative justice and alternatives in relation to minors.