This paper surveys reforms to improve access to justice, particularly in India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Five developments addressing access to justice in these countries are identified:
- Legal aid in the region is provided according to individual or structural approaches. In India, legal aid has a long history in law but is under-funded. In Indonesia, structural legal aid arose in response to political suppression, such as mass detentions in the late 1960s, and to conflicts stemming from economic development.
- Public interest litigation in such places as India has permitted advocacy for the poor, disabled, and the disadvantaged.
- South and Southeast Asian countries have some forms of ‘informal justice,’ such as the lok adalat (people’s courts) in India and the older nyaya panchayat village councils.
- Alternative dispute resolution has been practiced, including commercial arbitration in Malaysia and Singapore, and mediation through the region, such as Sri Lanka’s mediation boards and debt conciliation boards.
In terms of policy implications, it is argued that the increased effort of business to seek legal remedies is the most noteworthy recent development in access to justice.
- Banks and financial institutions have sought means of collecting debt- called ‘economic access to justice.’
- Pakistan, Bangladesh and India have established special debt recovery courts.
- India and Sri Lanka have also passed laws making it easier for institutions to use ‘self-help’ means of reclaiming money.
- The emphasis on the speedy collection of debt has been stimulated partly by the World Bank and pressure to create a favourable investment climate.
