From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

2 POWER AND POLITICS I RULE, THEREFORE I AMThree revealing tests of a state’s effectiveness and legitimacy are itsability to manage an impartial system of justice, raise taxes fairly, andspend revenue wisely. In recent years, state spending has been transformedby the trend towards decentralisation, which is aimed atbringing it closer to its citizens.ACCESS TO JUSTICEThe relationship between development and institutions such as thelaw is double-edged. Laws are agreed by leaders and parliamentsdominated by elites; Rousseau believed that ‘laws are always useful tothose who possess and injurious to those who have nothing’. 137Discrimination, for example against ‘non-citizens’ such as migrants,or women, can be enshrined in law. In Pakistan, the evidence in courtof a Muslim woman is worth half that of a man. 138Nevertheless,Oxfam’s experience in numerous countries is that accessto justice, in the shape of the law and the courts, can be a vital tool forprotecting and empowering poor people. For example, enforcing legalguarantees of ownership of land or housing is a crucial issue in ensuringthat poor people do not suffer arbitrary expropriation or eviction.Across the developing world, a gulf exists between laws and practice,since poor people face difficulties in getting the judicial system to takeup their cause. Information is unobtainable, the police are hostile orunhelpful (particularly to women and ethnic minorities), and judgesare more likely to find in favour of their rich friends and neighboursthan of ‘upstart’ social activists. Labyrinthine legal systems areparticularly impenetrable for illiterate people, or indigenous groupswithout a good command of the official language. And justice costsmoney: ‘If we look for justice in the courts, we make ourselves evenpoorer – we have to sell a piece of land or some of our things’, explainsone Guatemalan villager.Although justice claims to be rules-based and ‘blind’, in practiceactivism is often essential to force the judicial system to respond.In South Africa, women’s organisations trying to use the legal systemto confront domestic violence have found that demonstrators singingand dancing outside the courthouse greatly improve their chancesof success. 13997