{"id":255,"date":"2010-08-01T09:14:20","date_gmt":"2010-08-01T14:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/voxpop\/2010\/08\/01\/it-and-the-access-to-justice-crisis\/"},"modified":"2010-08-02T10:39:36","modified_gmt":"2010-08-02T15:39:36","slug":"it-and-the-access-to-justice-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/voxpop\/2010\/08\/01\/it-and-the-access-to-justice-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"IT and the Access to Justice Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"justice2.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This post explores ways in which information technology (IT) can enhance access to justice. What does it mean when we talk about “the access to justice crisis,” and how can information technology help to resolve it? The discussion that follows is based on my 2009 book, Technology for Justice: How Information Technology Can Support Judicial Reform<\/em><\/a>, particularly Part 4, on the role of information and IT in access to justice.<\/p>\n

The normative framework for access to justice<\/strong><\/p>\n

International conventions guarantee access to a court. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent tribunal in the determination of their civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him or her, according to The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights<\/a> (article 14<\/a>) and regional conventions like the The European Convention on Human Rights<\/a> (article 6). In practice, the normative framework for access to justice does not provide us with clearly defined concepts.<\/p>\n

The major barriers to access to justice identified in the scholarly literature are:<\/p>\n