Justice
The right to justice seeks to ensure that individuals and groups are treated fairly by the government and in society generally. This right is fundamental to our legal system and is enforced through a variety of laws and processes.
Most people understand justice to mean what is right, fair, appropriate or deserved in the circumstances. The following pages will explore justice as it applies in the legal context, with considerable focus on the concept of ‘access to justice’. Access to justice embodies the idea that everyone has a right to equal access to and equality under the law.
The right to justice includes the right to:
- A fair trial;
- A public hearing before an independent impartial tribunal;
- Be presumed innocent until proven guilty when accused of a crime;
- Not be tried or punished more than once for the same offence, sometimes known as double jeopardy;
- Protection against prosecution for retrospective criminal offences, or behaviour that was not against the law at the time, but only criminalised afterwards; and
- Individual and collective remedies for an injustice.
Please click for more information on:
What is the right to justice?
ICCPR and the right to justice
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the right to justice
How is the right to justice protected in Australia?
Justice and the legal system in Australia
How can I access justice in Australia?
What is ‘legal aid’?
What does the right to justice mean for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
What is indigenous law?
What about indigenous courts?
What about land rights and native title?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
Get Active
If you want to get more involved in furthering justice, you can Get Active and:
Humans Rights Committee
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Related Links
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Human Rights Law Resource Centre
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