22/02/2022
Justice networks from more than 20 countries unite to promote access to justice through an agreement that makes the Brasilia Rules binding
#AbramosLaJusticia: Everyone is equal before the law, but does everyone have the same access to justice? The answer is NO. Not yet. Indigenous peoples, migrants, people with disabilities, in remote environments and female victims of gender violence, among other groups, are often severely limited when it comes to knowing their rights, going to court, defending themselves or filing complaints with guarantees, among others. The language is too technical, there is a lack of translation services into indigenous languages, people do not know their own rights, there are insurmountable physical distances or simply fear and mistrust. These are just a few of the most common obstacles that prevent these people from gaining effective access to public justice systems in Latin America.
“There is little or no point in the State formally recognising a right if its holder cannot effectively access the justice system to protect that right. And obviously the difficulties are greater when it comes to people in vulnerable situations”, explains Stella Maris Martínez, General Coordinator of the AIDEF and Chief Public Defender of Argentina.
People living in poverty, children and adolescents, the elderly, migrants, people with disabilities, LGTBI and native peoples, female victims of gender violence and people deprived of liberty are the main subjects of the Brasilia Rules.
“The 100 Rules include basic measures such as active participation of public servants in disseminating knowledge about the rights of people in disadvantaged areas. These standards include free legal assistance, easy-to-use forms, orality and understanding of judicial proceedings; also, measures to provide the service in remote places and alternative conflict resolution measures”, said Judge Angela Russo, a member of the Follow-up Commission of the 100 Rules of Brasilia of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit
“The Public Ministries of Ibero-America have made a determined undertaking to stamp out inequity and inequality in access to justice. In a coordinated, complementary effort, the region’s prosecutors’ and attorneys’ offices have focused on strengthening the protection and assistance afforded to victims and witnesses, because part of the legitimacy of democracy is that citizens understand their justice system, know their rights and feel included in this process. The risk of making vulnerable people invisible is significant in situations of high inequality , hence the importance of our duty”, said the President of the Ibero-American Association of Public Ministries and National Prosecutor of the Chilean Public Ministry, Jorge Abbott.
“The 100 Rules of Brasilia were updated in 2018, but there is a need to go further, focusing justice on people and ensuring that the norms are not only conceptual frameworks of reference. We have an enormous challenge ahead, which is to deploy a strategy that facilitates the articulation of National Plans for Access to Justice in Ibero-American Countries”, Paola Andrea Jhon Martínez, Deputy Secretary General of COMJIB.
According to Anna Terrón, director of the FIIAPP, which promoted the drafting of these regulations through the EUROsociAL+ programme, “access to justice is a crucial right for the realization of other rights and must be at the centre of international cooperation between public institutions: sharing experiences is and will accelerate the effective implementation of the 100 Rules of Brasilia”
#AbamosLaJusticia, a campaign published on the social networks of the main Euro-Latin American justice entities, is designed to highlight obstacles that prevent real access to justice and draw attention to the work done by judges, prosecutors and defenders to get rid of them.
