Access to Justice and Unequal Treatment

Matić Bošković, Marina (2022) Access to Justice and Unequal Treatment. In: Yearbook. No. 5, Human rights protection : from childhood to the right to a dignified old age : human rights and institutions. Provincial Protector of Citizens - Ombudsman ; Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research, Novi Sad ; Belgrade, pp. 139-152. ISBN 978-86-89417-17-3

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Abstract

Ensuring access to justice and improving social inclusion are universally acknowledged global priorities, at the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The European Union places access to justice a prerequisite for States wishing to join the EU. Therefore, it is essential for Serbia, as a country aspiring for EU accession, to identify the barriers and difficulties experienced by citizens and especially vulnerable groups in accessing justice and upholding their rights, to ensure the full implementation and effective enforcement of national and international laws and meet the requirements for EU accession. From a rights-based perspective, access to justice is often seen as a gateway to the enjoyment and protection of other fundamental human rights and promotes social inclusion, while barriers to access to justice reinforce poverty and exclusion. Moreover, inability to resolve legal problems may diminish access to economic opportunity, reinforce the poverty trap, and undermine human potential including ability to enforce own economic and social rights, including property and labour rights.1 Therefore, the focus on access to justice and the protection of the law is deliberate as it transcends sectors and can provide much needed protection to vulnerable groups and also facilitate more inclusive access in the respective sectors. The 2021 Regional Justice Survey for Serbia revealed that most citizens believe that the judicial system does not treat all equally and that some forms of discrimination exist. The author analysis the barriers to access to justice in Serbia and grounds for discrimination of citizens in the judicial system. The author elaborates practice of the European Court of Human Rights and EU Court of Justice and their interpretation of the violation of access to justice right.

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