Publication: "To Whom Do the People Take Their Issues?" The Contribution of Community-Based Paralegals to Access to Justice in South Africa
Date
2013-01
ISSN
Published
2013-01
Author(s)
Dugard, Jackie
Drage, Katherine
Abstract
Paralegals provide a crucial link to
justice services and legal redress in South Africa,
particularly for the rural poor. Although post-Apartheid
constitutional reforms guaranteed a broad range of rights
and benefits to all South Africans, including the right to
legal assistance, accessing many of these benefits remains a
challenge for those who live in remote areas and those who
cannot afford legal representation. Community-based
paralegals fill this gap by providing dispute resolution and
legal support that is both geographically and financially
accessible and informed by a deep understanding of the
social issues and everyday challenges facing their clients.
Despite the prevalence and importance of paralegals in the
South African justice sector, their role remains largely
under-formalized and understudied. This report seeks to
address this gap by providing a broad analysis of the
current state of the paralegal sector. It begins with a
historical overview of paralegal services in South Africa
from the apartheid period to the present. The study then
maps the current state of the paralegal sector, and provides
detailed information on the structure and function of key
organizations that provide paralegal services. Through an
analysis of twelve case studies of paralegal-assisted cases,
the report identifies facilitating and hindering
determinants of Community Advice Offices (CAO) functions at
both the institutional and organization level.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Dugard, Jackie; Drage, Katherine. 2013. "To Whom Do the People Take Their Issues?" The Contribution of Community-Based Paralegals to Access to Justice in South Africa. Justice and development working paper series;no. 21. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16597 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”