people and planet

4
Lack of knowledge and education severely
hampers citizens’ ability to interact with
the justice system
“
”
EDUCATION CAN PLAY A
KEY ROLE IN BUILDING A
FUNCTIONING JUSTICE SYSTEM
A functioning justice system that upholds the rule
of law is considered critical for sustaining peaceful
societies. Lack of knowledge and education, however,
severely hampers citizens’ ability to interact with the
justice system. In 2011, according to court user survey
results in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
only 32% of individuals with primary education were
‘well or partially informed’ about the judicial system and
its reforms, compared with 77% of those with higher
education (World Bank, 2011). In Bangkok, many female
victims of violence were unaware of the laws and legal
procedures in place to protect them from, or redress,
gender-based violence. Thus, even when financial
resources were not a problem, they did not seek legal
protection or justice (International Commission of
Jurists, 2012).
CIVIL SOCIETY IS INCREASINGLY FILLING THE
WIDE GAP IN LEGAL EDUCATION PROVISION
Increased awareness and understanding of legal rights
can address many daily problems faced by the most
marginalized populations. One promising mechanism
is community-based education programmes, typically
designed to advocate for the poor and enhance the legal
empowerment of marginalized groups.
In Bangladesh, the Human Rights and Legal Aid
Services (HRLS) programme of BRAC had provided
rights-based legal education to over 3.8 million people
as of 2013. The HRLS model is based on legal education,
legal aid and community mobilization. Women learn
about their legal rights through legal education
classes that aim to empower them with a basic
understanding of their rights and the laws, the first
step in seeking justice. The programme also uses
street theatre, a popular community outreach tool,
to promote behavioural change and create community
acceptance of access to property rights for the poor
(Kolisetty, 2014).
In Sierra Leone, over half of all people behind bars
have not been convicted of any crime but are
awaiting trial. Timap for Justice, an NGO, recruits and
hires local community members, who receive basic
legal training as paralegals. As a result of Timap’s
intervention, paralegals have succeeded in getting
inappropriate charges dropped in 28% of cases, and
secured bail for an additional 55% of suspects (Open
Society Justice Initiative, 2015).
BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF JUDICIAL AND
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IS CRITICAL
Insufficient training and capacity-building for judicial
and law enforcement officers hinders the carrying
out of justice and can result in delays, flawed or
insufficient evidence-gathering, lack of enforcement,
and abuse. Many countries have critical shortages of
trained police, legal and forensic staff. Only one doctor
in Timor-Leste has reportedly been trained to collect
evidence in sexual violence cases. Sierra Leone has just
100 trained lawyers, 90 of whom are based in the capital,
Freetown, serving a population of more than 5 million
(UN Women, 2011). In Rajasthan state, India, lack of skills
has been identified as a barrier to effective policing.
Training police officers in behavioural skills has had
significant positive effects on the quality of police work
and public satisfaction. In police stations where
all staff were trained, victim satisfaction increased
by 30%, while fear of the police was reduced by 17%
(Banerjee et al., 2012).
Capacity problems are especially marked in postconflict
settings or in the aftermath of crises, when
levels of violence are exceptionally high. In Haiti, the
national police went from being the least to the most
trusted institution of the state over five years through a
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CHAPTER 4 | PEACE: POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, PEACE AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE