Access to Legal Services in India: The Concept of Empowering People and Strengthening System

Abstract

Mauro Cappelletti has asserted that legal aid is a prerequisite in providing individuals with access to justice, by allowing the individual legal enforcement of social, economic and cultural rights. He developed his views in the second half of the 20th Century when democracies with capitalist economies established liberal welfare states which primarily focused on the individual. States established themselves as service providers and contractors within a market-based philosophy that gave prominence to the citizens as consumers. The administration of justice is one of the important functions of the State. For maintaining the rule of law, both the rich and the poor must be provided equal access to justice and it should not be available only to the affluent segments of society. The poor should also have civil and political rights so that they could enjoy the fruits of the rule of law. The judicial system should be such that it becomes a source of strength and comfort to the deprived and vulnerable sections of society. The Supreme Court has maintained that for treating a right as a Fundamental Right, it is not imperative that it should be expressly stated as a Fundamental Right in the Constitution. The recognition of these rights depends on the political, social and economic changes persisting in the country. The law in its eternal youth grows to cater to the demands of society. The right to life enshrined in Article 21 has been liberally interpreted as something more than merely a survival or mere an existence like animals and includes all those aspects of life which make a man’s life meaningful, complete, and worth living. Article 21 has been fundamentally metamorphosed from non-deprivation of life to its preservation, from negative to positive content, as a result of judicial creativity. Article 21 has experienced a notable journey during the last fifty years.