The Konrad Adenauer Foundation, New York, and the International Legal Foundation (ILF) hosted a roundtable discussion on the Equal Access to Justice for All resolution (A/RES/78/227) adopted in 2023 by the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and subsequently by the UN General Assembly.
On December 11, 2024, the Expert Group Meeting on Equal Access to Justice for All was convened by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Brasilia. The event, hosted by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security with the Support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the government of Canada, brought together experts nominated by Member States from around the world to share information on challenges, lessons learned, best practices and enabling factors needed to enhance the functioning of criminal justice systems to ensure equal access to justice for all.
This meeting aligned with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 78/227. In line with this mandate, the experts, from Ministries of Justice, police, prosecution, judiciary, legal aid providers, academia, and civil society, discussed barriers to justice and strategies to overcome them based on their national experiences.
As the resolution notes, access to justice remains a significant global challenge, as highlighted in the Second Global Progress Report on Sustainable Development Goal 16 Indicators. Underreporting of physical and sexual violence by victims of crime, persistent high pre-trial detention rates, and widespread discrimination—affecting one in six people, especially racial minorities and individuals with disabilities—underscore systemic barriers. Commitments such as the 2030 Agenda’s Target 16.3, the Kyoto Declaration, and UN General Assembly Resolution 78/227 emphasize the need for inclusive, effective, and accountable justice systems.
Based on the growing importance of promoting criminal justice systems to uphold the rule of law, reduce inequalities, and ensure marginalized voices are central to policy development and reform, in this meeting experts will discuss both domestic strategies and measures to be adopted by Member States that are relevant to ensuring equal access to justice for all in the criminal justice context, such as addressing and eliminating discrimination, representative justice institutions, responsible use of technology, collection of data and measurement of impact, equal access to justice for all and the environment, and cross-sectoral, multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approaches.
Discussion issues:
- How should states ensure equal access for all phases of the criminal justice process, including equal access for all in their interactions with law enforcement, prosecution, independent and impartial tribunals, judiciary, and other criminal justice institutions, legal aid providers, and victim support services?
- How should governments and civil society promote and support implementing people-centered and equity-based criminal justice systems and reforms to eliminate structural and cultural barriers and ensure fair and equal treatment for all individuals?
- How States should ensure that efforts to advance equal access to justice for all are data-driven, evidence-based, inclusive and transparent, informed by qualitative and quantitative data and research and developed through broad engagement of groups and individuals with lived experience of structural inequalities and exclusion, and the participation of diverse voices in decision-making while guaranteeing the allocation of sufficient resources for the implementation, evaluation and further adjustments?
- Strategies for the revision of existing criminal laws, practices, and policies to increase access to justice in line with international best practices, including by decriminalizing conduct and eliminating law enforcement and criminal justice practices that target and/or disproportionally impact poor and marginalized persons, such as persons who face institutional barriers and challenges and are deprived of liberty due to their inability to pay fines or fees.