Review article
Free Information and Consultation as a Precondition of Access to Justice. Evaluation of Croatian Regime in Comparative Perspective
Barbara Preložnjak
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Equal right of access to justice can be jeopardized as a result of citizens’ inability to effectively use legal mechanisms to protect their subjective rights. This problem raises the question of availability of free legal information and consultation in making decisions about whether or not to file a claim. If citizens do not have the financial resources to cover the cost of obtaining legal information and consultation, legal aid is becoming a prerequisite for effective protection of their rights. Primary legal aid, which is strictly limited to the aid before the courts, may be subject to legitimate criticism in that it does not provide adequate assistance to citizens in making decisions about the need for judicial protection. In this paper we discuss the primary legal aid systems in selected countries of Northern Europe. Their efficient (from the government perspective) and affordable legal aid systems are considered as an example of good practice and compared to the Croatian legal aid system. In addition, in the context of the Croatian legal aid system, we examine whether the legal information and consultation are effective legal instruments for preventing unnecessary court proceedings. In conclusion, specific problems related to the restriction of access to legal information and consultation are indicated, with projections de lege ferenda to the regulation of primary legal aid in the Croatian legal aid system.
Keywords
access to justice; legal aid; primarily legal aid; legal information and consultation
Hrčak ID:
149415
URI
Publication date:
20.11.2015.
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