Advancing Access to Justice: Importance and Challenges – Vigan Gërdovci
This essay was written as part of the competition ”Access to Justice: Importance and Challenges”, within “Raising Citizens’ Awareness and Trust in Justice System Institutions” project, in partnership with the Center for Advanced Studies – FIT, supported by the European Union Office in Kosovo.
By: Vigan Gërdovci
Undoubtedly, Kosovo’s nascent democracy must confront a weighty, fundamental issue—the accessibility of justice for all citizens—that threatens to stall our societal progress. As a fourth-year law student, I can testify to the untold number of hours and the sheer dogged determination that many of our legal profession must expend if they are to overcome our narrow prevailing realities in order to live up to the “not always pretty” promise of equal justice under the law. Indeed, the forces impeding the accessibility of justice in our society are far from unique to Kosovo; around the world, many justice systems seem almost cursed to not fulfill their very essence. But some of us are working on plans to change that, and this essay is one of those plans.
Three main obstacles keep citizens of Kosovo from using the justice system. The first is money. In a country where over 60% live below the average income level, the costs associated with obtaining legal representation and the necessities for pursuing a court case are a serious barrier. And, as we will see later, the median income itself is artificially inflated and does not represent a large number of people whose means fall well below even the already meager average. In this environment, where people struggle to make ends meet, the promise of a legal system that is accessible to all is in serious jeopardy.
The problem is worsened by the complex nature of legal processes and the impenetrable legal language that professionals use. This language often serves no other purpose than to enhance the professionals’ status, yet it serves to further alienate citizens who are supposed to be served by the system. All of this would be bad enough, but it is made even worse by the low levels of legal literacy among our citizens. Most people do not know what rights they have, and as a recent study pointed out, they also do not know what free resources are available to help them. The same study found that most people overestimate the cost of obtaining help. This gap in awareness not only harms the individuals involved but also sends a “justice is not for all” message to the public.
Achieving the goal of narrowing this gap demands multifaceted action. Some of it must reform the old structures, but some of it must also be envisioned and imagined to be something different than what we presently have. We have to have something new; we cannot rely solely on the old structures to get to something that’s truly just. The big push in the next few years must be to enlarge and strengthen the access-to-justice system that is free and primarily available to the poor.
At the heart of the college experience is the empowerment of individuals to traverse a baffling legal system. The law and authority can and do change—often in ways that might not be apparent until they’re upon us. Teaching people how to navigate these changes doesn’t just keep them on the right side of the law. It gives them the knowledge to recognize when the law is on their side or when it’s not and then to do something about it.
Additionally, in the pursuit of genuine justice within Kosovo, reforming existing laws is not enough; we must also alter our mindset about the very concept of law and what it signifies for society. As we prepare to enter the legal profession, we must seriously consider the nature of our work both on behalf of our clients and on behalf of the untold numbers who cannot and do not enlist our services. The nature of our work within the legal system is intimately tied to our understanding of the type of system in which we wish to live. The legal system’s existence is premised on the fair and transparent functioning of its parts.
This vision demands that we become both reformers and visionaries. It calls on us to use our academic privilege to push for systemic changes that promote fairness and accessibility within the legal framework. There are doubtless many ways to accomplish this. I’m just sharing one of them, which happens to be my pet project and one that I think is a pretty good exemplar of what I’m talking about when I use the words “fair” and “accessible.”
To sum up, ensuring that all Kosovo citizens can attain justice is not just about law; it’s mostly about the kind of society we want to live in. Currently, we are tackling significant shortcomings, with innovative reforms as our main method. These reforms are threefold. First, we are expanding the availability of free legal aid to those who need it. Second, we are improving the public legal education that we give to our society, to ensure that everyone knows what their rights and obligations are under the law. And, finally, we are simplifying legal procedures to reduce the number of false barriers that are put up.
At the threshold of this transformative journey, let us devote ourselves to constructing a future where justice is not merely an aspiration, but a reality experienced by every Kosovo citizen.