Description
Access to justice is a fundamental corollary to the rule of law because without it the rule of law can be nothing more than just a concept, an ideal. If access to justice is absent, legal rights cannot be exercised and legal obligations cannot be enforced. Thus it is essential to a humane, just and civilized society. And it is at risk. Successive British governments have cut legal aid, increased court fees, and created a real danger that the individual citizens will find themselves unable to afford to seek to enforce their rights and the obligations of others.
This is an area where the Church should have a voice. There has been a perception in some circles that Christian concentration has been upon the rights of members of our own Christian communities rather than upon the rights of others. There is surely a case for saying that this balance should be reconsidered, that the Church should take the lead in expressing the need and seek to influence the political agenda, while at the same time trying to “fill in” the gaps that are becoming ever clearer.