Access to Justice refers to the ability of people, businesses and communities to prevent conflicts and obtain effective, fair, equitable and timely resolution of their legal and justice-related needs (OECD, forthcoming). Another aspect is legal empowerment, which enables meaningful participation in the justice system and builds people’s capacity to understand and use the law (OECD, 2019). On average, OECD countries scored 0.65 out of a maximum of 1 points in the accessibility and affordability of civil justice dimension of the 2022 World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law index, an increase of 0.03 points since 2016. The Netherlands (0.79), Denmark (0.78), and Germany (0.77) had the highest scores. The most significant increases were in Estonia (0.08 points), Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Türkiye (+0.07 each) (Figure 3.16). Scores fell in the United Kingdom (-0.04), the Czech Republic, Mexico (-0.02 each) and Chile (-0.01).
Delays in solving legal cases affect citizens and disrupt businesses. A responsive justice system ensures that the “right” mix of services is provided to the “right” clients, in the “right” areas of law, in the “right” locations, and at the “right” time (OECD, 2019). In 2020, on average, OECD countries with data available took 266 days to resolve litigious civil and commercial cases. Lithuania (117 days), the Netherlands (127 days) and Estonia (135 days) had the shortest times. France, Greece (637 days each) and Spain (468 days) had the longest. Since 2016, disposition time increased by an average of 52 days, with the largest increases in France (284 additional days), Spain (+187) and Poland (+92) (Figure 3.17).
An independent judicial system is key to ensuring a fair resolution of cases. Pressure on judges can come from outside the judicial system (e.g. the government or media) or from within, from peers or superiors (e.g. a court president annulling the ruling of a judge in their court without due process) (ENCJ, 2014). In 2022, on average, OECD countries scored 0.72 out of a maximum of 1 points for freedom from improper government influence (Figure 3.18). The highest scores are for Ireland (0.95), Norway (0.94), Denmark (0.91) and Finland (0.89), and the lowest for Türkiye (0.19), Hungary (0.34), Mexico (0.42) and Poland (0.62). The OECD average fell by 0.03 points between 2016 and 2022. Some countries slightly improved their scores since 2016, including Belgium, France (0.03 points each), New Zealand, Sweden, Estonia (0.02 each) and Greece and Spain (0.01 each) but 12 countries experienced a decrease.
