Innovations in Access to Justice for Africa´s Poorest: Lessons Learned, Insights Gained

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review recent innovations in access to justice in Sub Saharan Africa, exploring both the successes and challenges in bringing access to justice to poor, vulnerable and geographically isolated populations. In particular, the paper will focus on recent technological developments that have been implemented to expand justice, along with other changes currently shaping the justice landscape in the Sub Saharan African region, including the use of university legal clinics and one-stop shops to provide more multi dimensional approaches to providing justice. The paper will conclude with a discussion of challenges and recommendations facing the region´s justice sectors, and seeks to isolate the primary lessons learned from many of these experiments with access to justice in Sub Saharan Africa.

While the focus of this conference is primarily on the Asia Pacifica region, the reason for presenting this paper is to provide a comparative approach to access to justice and to develop an academic dialogue on justice for the poor across regions.