Right to Legal Aid and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Litigation
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Description
The actual enjoyment of social and economic rights is diminished in the absence of mechanisms within the framework of the judicial system to facilitate the effective protection of the rights. One of the most fundamental and important human rights is the guarantee of effective access to justice. As Mauro Cappelletti has written, “effective access to justice can thus be seen as the most basic requirement—the most basic ‘human right’—of a system that purports to guarantee legal rights.” Various formulations of the right of access to justice will be examined in this chapter, including the right to equal justice, the right to fair and equal access to justice and the right to a fair hearing. There must be an ability to secure meaningful access to the appropriate forums to enforce economic, social and cultural rights (‘ESC rights’). As an integral part of this access, legal representation must be available for those unable to afford it. The relevant forum must have the capacity to appoint legal aid if necessary to ensure access to justice and traditional fairness.
Source Publication
Litigating Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Legal Practitioners Dossier
Publication Date
2006
Edition
2
Recommended Citation
Galowitz, Paula, "Right to Legal Aid and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Litigation" (2006). Faculty Chapters. 1245.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1245
