The United Nations estimates that four billion people worldwide live outside the protection of the law. These people can be driven from their land, intimidated by violence, and excluded from society. This book is about community paralegals - sometimes called barefoot lawyers - who demystify law and empower people to advocate for themselves. These paralegals date back to 1950s South Africa and are active today in many countries, but their role has largely been ignored by researchers. Community Paralegals and the Pursuit of Justice is the first book on the subject. Focusing on paralegal movements in six countries, Vivek Maru, Varun Gauri, and their coauthors have collected rich, vivid stories of paralegals helping people to take on injustice, from domestic violence to unlawful mining to denial of wages. From these stories emerges evidence of what works and how. The insights in the book will be of immense value in the global fight for universal justice. This title is also available as Open Access.

The last fifteen years have seen a tremendous growth in the number of health rights cases focusing on issues such as access to health services and essential medications. This volume examines the potential of litigation as a strategy to advance the right to health by holding governments accountable for these obligations. It includes case studies from Costa Rica, South Africa, India, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, as well as chapters that address cross-cutting themes. The authors analyze what types of services and interventions have been the subject of successful litigation and what remedies have been ordered by courts. Different chapters address the systemic impact of health litigation efforts, taking into account who benefits both directly and indirectly—and what the overall impacts on health equity are.

"Paralegals can be a powerful tool of justice, helping to resolve disputes and empower individual clients and whole communities. Living and working in the communities they serve, community-based paralegals use their knowledge of the formal justice system, alternative means of resolution such as mediation, and community education practices to help the poor and marginalized address their justice problems. Less expensive than lawyers and able to work faster than the formal legal process, community-based paralegals are especially effective in transitional, post-conflict, and developing countries. In Sierra Leone, for example--where there are only 10 judges and about 100 lawyers to meet the justice needs of over three million people--paralegals help resolve land disputes, negotiate divorce settlements, and hold government officials accountable. Perhaps more importantly, community-based paralegals can educate whole communities about their rights, increasing citizens' agency and helping them demand more from their governments. This how-to guide provides information on all aspects of establishing and operating a community-based paralegal program, from assessing a community's needs to training paralegals and resolving justice problems. The book includes case studies, training curricula, client intake forms, and other materials drawn from paralegal programs in Cambodia, Hungary, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, and elsewhere. Community-based Paralegals: A Practitioner's Guide should be useful for anyone who wants to start a new paralegals program, improve an existing one, or learn more about paralegals and the legal empowerment of the poor."--Page 4 of cover.

Informal forms of justice such as mediation have been greeted enthusiastically as progress from the punishment model of justice -- and criticised as broadening rather than narrowing the reach of the criminal justice system. Here the contributors assess the evidence and re-appraise the theory of informalism.

This book attempts to convey some of the challenges that those wielding the law for social change purposes have faced and the successes they have achieved. By intention, it is more a studied appreciation than a critical analysis of their efforts. We asked an international team of consultants to help us document and describe how various law-based strategies have worked in very different settings, to draw out connections between those efforts, and to highlight some of the insights that emerge from grantees' experiences in law-related work. We also asked them to help us learn more about the ways the Foundation has played a role in these efforts. Known as the Global Law Programs Learning Initiative (GLPLI), this effort is not definitive, but rather suggestive. Our goal is to contribute to more serious future reflection and, ultimately, more effective programs in this field.

"Paralegals can be a powerful tool of justice, helping to resolve disputes and empower individual clients and whole communities. Living and working in the communities they serve, community-based paralegals use their knowledge of the formal justice system, alternative means of resolution such as mediation, and community education practices to help the poor and marginalized address their justice problems. Less expensive than lawyers and able to work faster than the formal legal process, community-based paralegals are especially effective in transitional, post-conflict, and developing countries. In Sierra Leone, for example--where there are only 10 judges and about 100 lawyers to meet the justice needs of over three million people--paralegals help resolve land disputes, negotiate divorce settlements, and hold government officials accountable. Perhaps more importantly, community-based paralegals can educate whole communities about their rights, increasing citizens' agency and helping them demand more from their governments. This how-to guide provides information on all aspects of establishing and operating a community-based paralegal program, from assessing a community's needs to training paralegals and resolving justice problems. The book includes case studies, training curricula, client intake forms, and other materials drawn from paralegal programs in Cambodia, Hungary, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, and elsewhere. Community-based Paralegals: A Practitioner's Guide should be useful for anyone who wants to start a new paralegals program, improve an existing one, or learn more about paralegals and the legal empowerment of the poor."--Page 4 of cover.