Improving access to justice

In the Europe and Central Asia region, poor and disadvantaged groups - such as rural populations, IDPs, migrants and refugees - face multiple obstacles in accessing information on legal procedures and seeking legal redress. There is a need to improve access to justice for all by providing free legal aid and raising legal awareness on topics ranging from legal identity and peaceful dispute resolution to family law issues and property disputes.

UNDP works closely with governments to improve legal frameworks and national justice systems. The goal is to increase access to justice and peaceful resolution of disputes for all.

UNDP has improved access to justice in the region by

• supporting the establishment of free legal aid and legal awareness programmes with a focus on vulnerable groups in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan;
• working with governments to ensure the sustainability of these services, and to develop legal frameworks for free legal aid, establish national free legal aid institutions, and plan for specific budget allocation to free legal services;
• facilitating policy dialogues on the rule of law and access to justice between the government and civil society; and
• promoting community security and access to justice in conflict-affected areas where regional and domestic conflicts have created specific access to justice needs for IDPs and refugees, such as in Turkey and Ukraine.