Judges and lawyers have embraced class proceedings as fulfilling an access to justice objective. In the more than fifteen years since the introduction of class proceedings legislation in Ontario, however, few have sought to evaluate whether or to what extent class actions have improved access to justice. The author begins to fill that void by first exploring various meanings of access to justice, and then examining in detail the initiation and settlement of class actions, and the controversial issue of counsel fees, using both doctrinal analysis and empirical data representing the class action practices of more than 75 plaintiff-side lawyers. She concludes that there are several aspects of class action practice and jurisprudence that fall short of advancing access to justice to its fullest extent, and calls for further socio-legal analysis to measure the impact, and evaluate the success, of class actions.

Canadian citizens’ inability to access courts has been a subject of controversy for decades. Despite widespread evidence that Canada’s legal aid system is faltering, governments continue to be unwilling to commit the resources necessary to remedy the problem. In this thesis, the author argues that people’s inability to access courts and obtain legal representation not only has implications for their rights and interests, but may also undermine judicial independence. Judicial independence, the author claims, is best understood as a variable bundle of rights, guarantees and powers conferred on courts and judges that preserves and enhances their abilities to adjudicate impartially, maintain a constitutional distribution of powers and uphold the rule of law. Since people’s inability to access courts can impair the judiciary’s ability to preserve these values, judicial independence is undermined. The author claims that it is possible to correct problems of inaccessibility by appointing state-funded counsel in appropriate circumstances.

Canadian citizens’ inability to access courts has been a subject of controversy for decades. Despite widespread evidence that Canada’s legal aid system is faltering, governments continue to be unwilling to commit the resources necessary to remedy the problem. In this thesis, the author argues that people’s inability to access courts and obtain legal representation not only has implications for their rights and interests, but may also undermine judicial independence. Judicial independence, the author claims, is best understood as a variable bundle of rights, guarantees and powers conferred on courts and judges that preserves and enhances their abilities to adjudicate impartially, maintain a constitutional distribution of powers and uphold the rule of law. Since people’s inability to access courts can impair the judiciary’s ability to preserve these values, judicial independence is undermined. The author claims that it is possible to correct problems of inaccessibility by appointing state-funded counsel in appropriate circumstances.

Judges and lawyers have embraced class proceedings as fulfilling an access to justice objective. In the more than fifteen years since the introduction of class proceedings legislation in Ontario, however, few have sought to evaluate whether or to what extent class actions have improved access to justice. The author begins to fill that void by first exploring various meanings of access to justice, and then examining in detail the initiation and settlement of class actions, and the controversial issue of counsel fees, using both doctrinal analysis and empirical data representing the class action practices of more than 75 plaintiff-side lawyers. She concludes that there are several aspects of class action practice and jurisprudence that fall short of advancing access to justice to its fullest extent, and calls for further socio-legal analysis to measure the impact, and evaluate the success, of class actions.

International Organizations are a growing force in the global arena. While themandate and influence of the UN has increased over the last decades, the existinglegal regime regarding privileges and immunities remain the same as they were atthe founding of the organization. This has led to mass tort claims towards the UN,stemming from damages caused by the organizations. These damages often consistof human rights violations, something the organization is generally regarded as aprotector of, rather than violator.As individuals seek to obtain reparations and remedies for the damages inflictedupon them, they are generally obstructed by the claim for immunity by theinternational organization. This constitutes a conflict of competing interests thatthe domestic courts must address and solve. This conflict is central to my thesis,as I will discover how this issue has been tackled by the national as well asinternational courts, and which consequences the current legal practice has for theindividuals. The thesis concludes with a discussion on what needs to be done inorder to bridge the current accountability gap created by the immunity ofinternational organizations.

This study investigates the problem of access to justice for female victims of sexual violence (SV) in refugee camps, using South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda in a multiple case study. The main argument of this study is that female refugees in refugee camps, are not adequately pro- tected by those responsible to safeguard them against sexual violence and the myriad of perpe- trators of such sexual violations may never be apprehended, prosecuted, or convicted. Thus, refugees who are victims of sexual violence in refugee camps do not even have the opportunity to testify against their assailant. On the order hand, the current UN Refugee Convention 1951 and its Protocol 1967 have no clauses that protect female refugees against sexual violations. Moreover, victims do not have access to justice in the host states, despite the provision of article 16 of the UN Refugee Con- vention 1951, which provides free access to courts in all contracting states. Article 16 of the UN Refugee Convention 1951 further proposes that refugees should be accorded the same treatment like the citizens of host states in this respect. The study reveals that sexual violence perpetrated against citizens of contracting states are prosecuted in courts and victims have the opportunity in domestic courts to testify against the assailants. Whereas, refugees who are victims of SV in the states of study are not treated like the citizens who suffered the similar violation as prescribed by article 16 of UN convention of 1951. Since the cases of SV against refugees in the territory are hardly prosecuted, they do not have the opportunity to testify against their assailant. / Therefore, this study recommends that states should be compelled to address the offence of sexual violence against refugees in camps, as part of their international obligation as signatories to the refugee convention. Through, a thorough investigation and prosecution of SV cases per- petrated against these victims in their territories. So that victims of sexual violence in their territories can also have the opportunity to testify against their assailants like citizens who suf- fer SV in the contracting states. However, if a State is not a party to the convention, that state should be held responsible through the invocation of complicity to crime and customary inter- national law. This is because the general norm in domestic courts is that, states handle the prosecution of crime and the enforcement of the rights of their citizenry. The study in addition, recommends an international legal framework in support of the current international refugee mechanism that offers victims of sexual violations in refugee camps, legal protection, and access to justice. The proposed international refugee instrument provides for the enforcement of the rights of refugees who are victims of sexual violence, and remedy and reparations that could mitigate the effects of such violence and encourage those charged with their care to give both physical and legal protection to refugees, in camps, in their territories. In addition, the study also suggests a one stop facility in refugee camps for handling the cases of sexual violence against these victims, thus facilitating access to justice. In addition, the researcher also suggests that states should assume a victim - oriented approach in dealing with sexual violations in their territory. This is because, the current practice of the domestic laws of states, is that victims of crime are used as prosecution witnesses, since crime is against the State and a challenge of the rule of law. Consequently, victims do not have the needed locus standi to access the courts as an injured party to a suit. This can be achieved through the inclusion of a locus standi clause in their various criminal procedure acts, so that victims will have the requisite access to court, become parties to the litigation, as co-prosecutor of their offenders. This can be done, as a paradigm shift from the current practice of the criminal proceedings, so that while the state prosecutor represents the interest of the public and that of the rule of law, the victim will represent themselves and will be given a fair hearing in oreder to assert their rights against their assailant. In this process, victims can also enjoy the services of legal aid as maintained by article 16 of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Public Law / LLD / Unrestricted

Law clinics have had a late start in Ghana, compared with similar initiatives in Canada. Although there have been consistent calls for the establishment of law clinics at various faculties of law across the country, development on the ground has been slow. Unlike Canada, no law school at present in Ghana has a law clinic that engages students in actual client representation. However, a comprehensive plan is now being introduced to provide legal aid and advice to the poor, and the Ghana Legal Aid Commission is taking steps to institute law clinics across the country’s faculties of law. Nevertheless, it is yet to be seen how this will be achieved. Drawing on the Canadian experience, this thesis examines the effectiveness of the law clinic method as an innovation that could be used to advance access to justice in Ghana. In so doing, a comparative legal analysis is conducted of approaches to the clinic method in Ghana and Canada, to identify ideal practices that could support the development of clinical initiatives in these countries. / Graduate

No description available.

This thesis brings together six works published between 2003 and 2007 which consider public involvement in environmental matters. The later works focus on access to justice, one of three elements of public involvement. The works support the thesis that aspects of public involvement and, in particular access to justice in environmental matters, remain elusive for many individuals and groups in society; something that is inconsistent with both domestic and international law. They include analysis of why the need for participation arises and how it should be secured. By publishing primary research and new commentary the publications identify the gaps in the provision of public involvement in environmental matters and offer options for change. They have also informed further research and debate. The publications are brought together in this submission in chronological order, which illustrates how the hypothesis develops. The works are critically appraised in an introductory chapter. Public involvement is first discussed in The Prestige oil disaster, another example of the West living beyond its means (Environmental Law & Management 15[2003]1 16 (Jan 2003). LawText Publishing, Banbury, UK) and sets the backdrop for the later works. It highlights some of the key environmental problems of our time including, for instance, that environmental protection remains subservient to the pursuit economic development. Getting to the real EIA (Journal of Environmental Law, (2003) Vol 15, No. 2, p. 141 Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK) considers the role of public involvement in major land use development decision making by analysing one of the key participatory areas of public involvement; environmental impact assessment (EIA). EIA places emphasis on access to information and public participation in helping to prevent rather than alleviate adverse socio-environmental impacts. It is argued in Getting to the real F£IA that for the major development projects requiring EIA, public participation is nominal in nature and that, often, IS entirely absent. While Getting to the real EIA considers information and participation, access to justice is the focus of the third work; Civil law aspects of environmental justice ((2003) Environmental Law Foundation, London, UK). The work is based upon primary research which was necessary once it became evident that there was little, if any, data on how effective the judicial system is in securing access to environmental justice. The search conclusions were critical of the present judicial system highlighting that, in practice, a legal remedy was often unavailable to individuals and communities in challenging environmental decisions and resolving environmental problems; the most significant barrier being prohibitive expense. This was to such an extent that the UK Government was not meeting its international obligations. The failure to provide effective access to the courts as highlighted in Civil law aspects prompted the publication of the later work; The cost of doing the rights thing (Environmental Law & Management 16[2004]2 p. 59 (Mar 2004). LawText Publishing, Banbury, UK) which reviews the problems of access to environmental justice and then proposes innovative ways of starting to resolve those inherent in the legal justice system, including liability for an opponent's costs' if any legal challenge is ultimately unsuccessful. As the arguments surrounding funding constraints on access to justice were crystallising, the need to produce a substantive text clarifying the environmental rights and responsibilities of all interested parties became clear. This prompted the publication of A Practical Approach to Environmental Law ((2005). OUP, Oxford, UK) which is, in the main, a practitioner's text. However, the text also seeks to explain and raise awareness of the environmental rights that are available in the UK and the notion that public involvement in environmental decision-making has a central role. For instance, Chapter .2 Environmental rights and principles which is incorporated into this submission, outlines the main aspects of information, participation and access to justice and explains their relevant judicial and governmental application. While A Practical Approach to Environmental Law is novel in its comprehensive approach, its primary purpose is to inform readers, in an objective way, of the present legal position. Its inclusion in this submission is to illustrate how the arguments raised in the earlier publications have been presented to a wide audience. The final published work, ‘Current concerns in environmental decision making’ (Journal of Environment and Planning Law [2007] p. 536 Sweet & Maxwell, London, UK), places the argument of limitations of access to justice alongside the parallel and associated problems of an unwilling public protector and a conservative judiciary. It revisits the need for public participation in environmental matters by highlighting the reluctance of public bodies and the courts to take the issue of environmental justice seriously. It also argues that recent efforts in access to justice are largely superficial and that fundamental change remains necessary. The final paper was presented at the University of Kent, Critical Lawyer's Conference on 24 February 2007. The submitted works follow a distinct .theme by exploring the application of public involvement in environmental matters highlighting what is the main criticism of the public participatory provision in the UK the provision of access to the courts without prohibitive expense. The works have also been directly related to practical experience and work in seeking to improve the position. In drawing the published works together in one volume it has been helpful to outline some of the underlying issues relating to public involvement including what is meant by public participation, any levels and limitations to the rights now said to be conferred. This analysis has been provided in an expanded introduction which also includes a' critical appraisal of the main published works. Paul Stookes 22nd April 2008

This diploma thesis deals with access to environmental information and access to justice in environmental matters introduced by Aarhus Convention in the specific conditions of Czech Republic and Ireland. These rights are considered to be very important tools for environmental protection. At a time when people threaten their own existence by negative interference with the environment it is necessary that effective means for its protection exist. These means are access to environmental information and access to justice in environmental matters, which together can be called as environmental procedural rights. The first chapter of this thesis presents the sources of environmental procedural law and observes the development of law at international, European and national level. The most important international document in this field is the Aarhus Convention that was adopted in 1998 by most of the European countries and that provides for access to environmental information, access to justice and public participation in environmental decision-making. This convention has largely affected the law of the European Union, where several directives has been adopted, including most importantly the Directive 2003/4/EC on access to environmental information and the Directive 2003/35/EC on public participation in...