Learning by Doing—Promoting Access to Justice to the Marginalized and Vulnerable Groups in India
| Author | Asha Bajpai |
| DOI | 10.1177/2322005816652472 |
| Published date | 01 July 2016 |
| Date | 01 July 2016 |
Essay
Learning by Doing—Promoting
Access to Justice to the Marginalized
and Vulnerable Groups in India
Asha Bajpai1
Abstract
This article discusses about the LLM programme of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in
the area of access to justice, and how it has promoted access to justice to the marginalized and
vulnerable groups in India. The article also discusses the access to justice clinic of TISS—its functioning,
supervision, achievements and challenges.
Introduction
Access to law and justice is the hallmark of any civilized and caring society—a basic necessity in a
democracy governed by the rule of law. Access to justice means being treated fairly according to the law
and if you are not treated fairly, being able to get appropriate redress. It also means having access to
law, less complex procedures and everyone having some basic understanding of their rights. Access to
justice includes not only access to courts and legal redress mechanisms, but also to good governance,
including transparency and accountability in the making of laws and process of their implementation and
administration. It also includes awareness and access to government schemes and programmes and
entitlements. The current justice delivery system is perceived as expensive, time-consuming, procedure-
ridden, technical and difficult to comprehend, which prevents the poor and vulnerable groups from
approaching the legal system to redress their grievances. Complex laws and procedures, huge backlog
of cases, delays in delivering justice and corruption are some of the challenges to accessing justice.
The laws, legal institutions and processes need to be reformed so that they are more responsive to the
needs of all citizens, particularly the vulnerable and marginalized groups and individuals in the society.
Since India became a social, democratic, republic governed by the rule of law, there have been several
achievements, but even today, large masses of Indians still lack legal awareness, resulting in inequality,
injustice and disempowerment. If law is equal for all, access to law and legal information should be
universally available. The entitlements under various government schemes and programmes must be
made available to all. If equal justice under law is to be a reality, there has to be equal access to law and
Asian Journal of Legal Education
3(2) 201–208
© 2016 The West Bengal National
University of Juridical Sciences
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2322005816652472
http://ale.sagepub.com
1 Professor of Law, and Founder Dean, School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
(TISS), Deonar, Mumbai, India.
Corresponding author:
Asha Bajpai, School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Deonar,
Mumbai 400 088, India.
E-mail: bajpaiasha@gmail.com
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