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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, A/HRC/8/4, 13 May 2008

ACCESS TO JUSTICE

B. Content and scope of the right of access to justice

6. Positive obligations of the State

23. The State should refrain from any action that hinders access to justice or makes it impossible for those working in the judicial system – judges, lawyers and prosecutors – to carry out their task.[1] Access to justice requires the establishment of a judicial system that guarantees rights, and of parallel measures such as mechanisms and programmes to facilitate free legal assistance, in both criminal and civil cases. [2] This positive aspect of the State’s obligations, likewise firmly established in both the European [3] and the inter-American systems [4] must be considered in relation to socio-economic factors and others such as age, sexual orientation, and people’s physical and psychological condition, which have a major bearing on effective access to justice.

Link to full text of the report: Report-SR Independence of Judiciary-2008-eng

Footnotes    (↵ returns to text)

  1. 1. Esta dimensión negativa es la que aborda más específicamente la legislación británica. Vid., M. Penfold Schoenborn, “The Access to justice Bill and Human Rights Act of 1998: Britain’s legislative overhaul leaves the system scrambling to mend the safety net”, Buffalo Human Rights Law Review, vol. 6, p. 201.↵
  2. 2. Vid. TEDH, Airey c/Irlanda, Sentencia del 9 de octubre de 1979.↵
  3. 3. Del razonamiento del Tribunal en ese asunto se deduce que el Estado no sólo tiene la obligación de abstenerse de interferir el ejercicio del derecho al acceso a la justicia, sino también la obligación de adoptar acciones positivas y remover los obstáculos materiales que impiden su ejercicio efectivo. TEDH, Airey c/Irlanda, Sentencia del 9 de octubre de 1979.↵
  4. 4. Corte Interamericana de derecho Humanos, Opinión Consultiva OC-11/90, del 10 de agosto de 1998. Excepciones al agotamiento de los recursos internos; Corte Interamericana de derecho Humanos, Caso Fairen Garben y Solis Corrales, ST de 15 de marzo de 1989, Serie C, núm. 6, párr. 93.↵