Access to Justice: Reflections on the Concept, the Theory and its Application to Latin America's Judicial Reforms

Access to justice has become a central theme in Latin American judicial reforms. Access to justice has become a central theme in Latin American judicial reforms. Its apparent simplicity belies considerable ambiguity as to its precise meaning, the benefits it confers, and thus the methods whereby it is best advanced. While often interpreted as just a question of getting more people to court, for at least the last three decades observers have noted the inadequacy of this definition. Once it is discarded, the implications for programmes to enhance access are far less clear. This short essay reviews some of these issues and suggests an alternative, if not exactly easier, way of defining and operationalizing the concept. While based on the Latin American experience, the arguments are intended for more general application.