Access to justice is the ability of individuals and businesses to seek and obtain a just resolution of legal problems through a wide range of legal and justice services. This involves legal information, counsel and representation to formal (e.g. courts) and alternative dispute resolution, and enforcement mechanisms (OECD, 2019). Nowadays, more emphasis is placed on legal empowerment, which enables people’s meaningful participation in the justice system and builds capabilities to understand and use the law for themselves (OECD, 2019). The rule of law requires impartial and non-discriminatory justice. Without equal access, a large portion of the population would be left behind and exposed to vulnerabilities.
Legal needs surveys are useful in helping policymakers understand citizens’ experiences in seeking justice, the pathways they follow and the obstacles they face in resolving disputes. These surveys ask respondents whether they experienced any legal problems throughout the reference period, whether they sought legal help and from whom, whether they attempted to solve the dispute and how, among others. Some countries have included modules on legal needs in their household surveys, but these are not regularly collected (OECD/Open Society Foundations, 2019). Since 2016, the World Justice Project collects data on access to justice in its General Population Poll across the world, allowing for cross-country comparisons.
In 2018, on average, 59% of respondents across OECD countries reported experiencing a legal problem over the past 24 months. Of these, 32% sought legal help, primarily from relatives or friends –who may or may not have been law professionals. There is a large disparity across OECD countries regarding the decision to request legal advice: while in the Netherlands almost half of those who experienced a legal problem sought help, only 16% did so in Turkey.
From those who experienced a legal problem, only 14% decided to turn to a formal mechanism, such as courts, the police, government offices, or religious or community authorities. In Spain 22% of respondents sought such type of solution to their dispute, while less than 8% did so in Finland Hungary, Norway and the United Kingdom.
Reported reasons for not seeking legal assistance were mainly that respondents who experienced legal problems did not consider it difficult to resolve on their own (54% on average). The proportion spans from 74% of the respondents in Chile to 39% in Belgium. Across OECD countries, almost 30% of respondents on average reported experiencing access barriers such as lack of knowledge on the possibility of receiving advice or where to do so, distance, fear of getting legal support or of financial costs implied. Some 40% of the respondents in Belgium and 18% in Chile reported having one of such barriers.
Across OECD countries, on average 28% of the respondents did not attempt to solve their problems through a third party because they thought they could solve the problems on their own. In the United Kingdom and the United States, 37% reported this, while 19% did so in Japan. On average, 21% of respondents across OECD countries reported not finding their problem important or easy enough to resolve. This was the case for 35% of respondents in Poland.
