BENGALURU: Global Initiative for Access to Justice, a non-profit organisation, on Saturday released its findings on the access to legal resources for the most vulnerable sections of society among the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
The 2016 Access to Justice Index report ranks the five nations in terms of the effectiveness of a country in providing the access. India tops in the government rankings category that discusses policy decisions which enhance justice dispensing mechanisms. It is followed by Brazil and South Africa.
However, it stands last (fifth) in terms of regulatory mechanism and professional obligations of the legal profession. South Africa, Russia and China secure the top three rankings in that order.
The judiciary category which discusses policies, effective use of technology in the judiciary and infrastructure like separate legal aid wings and juvenile observations homes, ranks India third below Russia (second) and China. The Legal Education category which discusses clinical legal education and student-civic engagement among others ranks countries as follows: South Africa (1), India (2), China and Brazil (tied at third spot) and Russia (last spot).
“The report is a holistic attempt that looked not only at the government but also the judiciary, the legal profession and legal education while computing the rankings,” said Basavangouda Patil, Founder-Director of the Institute.
In the next edition that will be out in the year 2018, the Index Report plans to cover more than 80 countries, he said.
The report is a holistic attempt that looked not only at the government but also the judiciary, the legal profession and legal education while computing the rankings Basavangouda Patil, Founder-Director of the Institute.