Litigants in Person and Access to Justice

Abstract

LIPNI Briefing Paper 1 explains access to justice, the right to a fair trial and how they apply to litigants in person (LIPs) in civil and family court cases. In our study, we wanted to understand whether LIPs can access their right to a fair trial and how they participate in their legal proceedings. We started by defining what we mean by the right to a fair trial. The law on the right to a fair trial is set out in detail in Appendix 1 of our main report. Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to everyone, from birth until death. The right to a fair trial is a human right which has been agreed as a universal standard that all people can expect their government (or the State) to provide. It is made up of a number of different parts including being able to participate effectively in your own legal proceedings. Legal participation is a concept that describes not just whether people take part in their legal proceedings but how they do it. It depends on their desire, willingness and ability and on the court system to enable their participation. This briefing paper outlines how we defined participation in legal proceedings.