2132 Access to Justice
WG Civil Justice and Dispute Resolution
Room: C3.02
Chair: Paula Casaleiro | University of Coimbra
Srun ChhunVoleak | Nagoya University
The civil caseload issue in Cambodian first instance courts: lessons from the Japanese judiciary
Abstract
The Cambodian First Instance Courts confront issues of case backlogs and delays in civil litigation. In 2002, the government implemented legal and judicial reform strategies to improve the court performance addressing civil cases. However, these reforms did not improve the caseload condition. The Ministry of Justice reported that courts were still dealing with heavy caseloads, so judges were unable to dispose of cases effectively and quickly. Cambodia needs to tackle this issue urgently as the consequence of overloading of court cases may undermine public trust and confidence in the judicial system. In order to examine the caseload issue, this paper has adopted two research methodologies: the empirical research method and the comparative study method. First, the result of interviewing judges, court clerks, and attorneys as well as tracking the case flow confirm that the main challenges in processing civil litigation are related to the court’s data management system, shortages of resources, and ineffective delivery services. Second, compared to Cambodia, the Japanese judiciary has performed well in reducing caseload number by using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), expanding the size of the legal profession, and reducing the duration of litigation. Therefore, this thesis suggests that the Cambodian judiciary should commence three judicial reform mechanisms to eliminate the caseload problem: establishing and promoting ADR, increasing the number of legal professionals, and strengthening the court’s administration to accelerate litigation processes.
Daniela Marques de Moraes | Universidade de Brasília
Benedito Cerezzo Pereira Filho | Universidade de São Paulo
O exercício do direito, por suas formas de utilização, requer atores capazes de fomentar um acesso à justiça vocacionado ao desenvolvimento pleno da cidadania
Abstract
O acesso à justiça não se esgota na mera faculdade de se ajuizar e/ou de se contestar uma ação. Esta singela orientação, há muito, deixou de permear a teoria e a prática jurídica e jurisdicional. Para que a magnitude desse relevante instituto seja alcançada, é necessário analisar o direito e o poder judiciário, levando-se em consideração a questão histórica, as mudanças jurídico-valorativas e, por conseguinte, a própria noção sobre jurisdição. A compreensão dos acertos e equívocos do passado é indispensável a fim de que se possa entender o presente e se projetar o futuro. Esse compromisso com o hoje e o amanhã iluminará o real alcance do acesso à justiça. Por outro lado, trabalhar o novo, preso às verdades do passado, é negar ou, no mínimo, dificultar o entendimento do que se pretende como resposta às demandas sociais levadas à responsabilização de uma decisão judicial. É, portanto, essencial transcender épocas, sem cair na armadilha de discutir o novo com as teorias do passado. Não significa negá-las, mas, respeitar seu conteúdo, considerando a época em que foram elaboradas. A visão de acesso à justiça, então, deve estar adstrita às teorias do seu tempo, abstraída daquelas de outros idos. Nega-se acesso à justiça, por exemplo, ao não se permitir uma teoria que possa compreender a ‘ação’ como direito fundamental e merecedora da mais ampla proteção estatal pela efetiva tutela dos direitos. Neste ponto, a atuação do juiz é de extrema importância para que o direito cumpra sua função constitucional de entregar ao jurisdicionado uma tutela adequada, tempestiva e efetiva. Daí porque ser igualmente relevante a visão que se tem, ou que se deve ter do conceito de jurisdição e do papel do juiz.
Marijke ter Voert | WODC, Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security
Carolien Klein Haarhuis | WODC
Trends in Paths to Justice in the Netherlands: Justiciable Problems and Actions Taken over the years
Abstract
Understanding the nature of the legal problems people experience, and their reactions to these problems, is a necessity for evaluating the adequacy of the legal system. Therefore, in 2003 the Dutch Ministry of Justice commissioned a quantitative research (the Dispute Resolution Delta 2003; Van Velthoven & Ter Voert, 2004) into the justiciable problems of Dutch citizens and the pathways used for resolution. Based on the Paths to Justice study of Genn (1999), the study started with the assessment of ‘justiciable’ problems. Dutch citizens were not asked about ‘legal problems’, but about ‘serious problems’ they might have experienced during the previous five years and how they handled them. The study of 2003 was repeated in 2009 (Van Velthoven & Klein Haarhuis, 2010) and again in 2014 (Ter Voert & Klein Haarhuis, 2016). In this paper, the findings of the 2014 survey are compared with results regarding the two previous surveys. We focus on the following issues: (1) How did the incidence of justiciable problems within the population develop? - Which citizens were most vulnerable to experiencing problems; (2) What actions did citizens take to solve these problems? - How did these actions relate to background characteristics of citizens and to characteristics of the problem at hand.
Jan Winczorek | Unversity of Warsaw
Karol Muszyński | University of Warsaw
Uncertainties of law and laws of uncertainty. Polish SMEs on using law in business.
Abstract
Paper presents the results of the qualititative part of an extensive empirical study of access to justice in Polish small and medium enterprenteurs (SMEs), conducted in 2017 and 2018. It attempts to identify the main patterns of SMEs' activity in using law and/or legal services as well as justifications for both choosing legal tools and abstaining from that. In doing that it considers many classical tenets of sociolegal writings on law in business to finally theorize business activity as decision-making under uncertainty. In this vein, resorting to law is one of the elements of the perpetual process of translating external and internal uncertainties observed by business organizations into manageable risks. Law is perceived here as both a tool for managing uncertainties, and a source of contingency that needs to be managed.