Access to Justice
The Role of Court Administrators and Lay Adjudicators in the African
and Islamic Contexts. Edited by Christina Jones-Pauly and Stefanie
Elbern. Kluwer Law International: The Hague, London, New York 2002,
ISBN 9041118802
This
volume is a rare combination of interdisciplinary contributions
from academia and legal practitioners about accessing justice in
developing countries and one ex-colonizing country. The examples
from Britain, Burundi, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, and Sudan
point out the need to recognize that each culture has its own sense
of rule of law and access to justice. In contrast to the many works
which concentrate on structures and norms, this edited volume highlights
the importance of the perceptions of the litigants and the court
personnel for improving access to justice. Non-lawyer support personnel
as shown in the examples in the book are key figures in the processes
of access to justice. Hence, the book makes an important contribution
to identifying basic elements that are overlooked in judicial reform
schemes. The training of non-lawyer support personnel should be
given priority over or at least the same priority as the training
of lawyers.
This
volume is a rare combination of interdisciplinary contributions
from academia and legal practitioners about accessing justice in
developing countries and one ex-colonizing country. The examples
from Britain, Burundi, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, and Sudan
point out the need to recognize that each culture has its own sense
of rule of law and access to justice. In contrast to the many works
which concentrate on structures and norms, this edited volume highlights
the importance of the perceptions of the litigants and the court
personnel for improving access to justice. Non-lawyer support personnel
as shown in the examples in the book are key figures in the processes
of access to justice. Hence, the book makes an important contribution
to identifying basic elements that are overlooked in judicial reform
schemes. The training of non-lawyer support personnel should be
given priority over or at least the same priority as the training
of lawyers.
