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3. Strategies to CreateAffordable, Inclusive andFair JusticeThe Nature of the ProblemThe Social Realities of Access to JusticeThe poor themselves know best when they needjustice most. Legal needs surveys and case studiesdisplay a recurring pattern of situations inwhich poor people have needs or grievances thatare translated into justifiable claims invokingsubstantive rights (Michelson 2007; UNDP Indonesia2007). First, and foremost, they need personalsecurity and guarantees that their physicalintegrity is not threatened. Worries about personaland physical safety and fear that property or otherassets will be taken by force diminish the humanresources people have left for seizing opportunities.This also requires legal protection for physicalassets (property rights), human capital (labourrights), and the ability to engage in profitablemarket transactions (entrepreneurial rights). Poorcommunities also require basic services that cannotbe supplied efficiently in the private market,such as essential utilities, a healthy environment,public security, and a social safety net. The legalsystem must protect access to both private rightsand public goods and services if poor people areto be able to escape poverty. Protection of theirproperty not only requires effective registration,transparent and accountable land tenure systems,but also protection against expropriation and proceduresand accessible enforcement mechanismsthat resolve conflicts (see Chapter 2). Similarly,their interests as employees and as entrepreneursshould be recognised formally, as well as protectedagainst attempts of others to take advantage oftheir efforts (see Chapters 3 and 4).Surveys consistently show that the needs ofindividuals for legal interventions are concentratedaround the major transitions or changesin personal status in a lifetime. A likely reasonfor this is that property and other assets oftenaccrue within a relationship. This is especiallytrue for poor people. Their homes usually belongto families and kinships. They make use of theirarable land where the different members are designateddifferent tasks, roles and rights, whilstformal officially recognised ownership is uncleareven though a clear informal regime may exist.They work in businesses as employees, but alsoas spouse, as a nephew, or as business partner.Communities jointly own pastures, share water,and use the same fishing grounds. These closerelationships are powerful tools for value creation,but they also build on inter-dependent relations.The partners are tied to each other by specificinvestments, which will be lost if they leave therelationship (Williamson 1985). And often thepoorest person will have more to loose: tenantsand employees tend to invest more in this specificpiece of land or in the business, than thelandlord or the employer invests in their person.Women often invest more time and effort in thefamily and its assets than their husbands. Thatmakes it difficult to leave the relationship, andmakes them vulnerable to exploitation.The formal (modern) legal system, with its focuson the individual and not on a more or lessstrongly defined collective entity, which is alsomirrored in how ownership is construed, oftendiscriminates against poor people or excludesthem de facto. In some societies, property thatdoes not clearly belong to an individual will beregarded as state property (see Chapter 2). Theassumption that contracts are the only meansthat allocate residual ownership to one of thepartners in the relationship equally works against12