COUNCIL OF EUROPE
COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS
RECOMMENDATION No. R (93)1
OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS TO MEMBER STATES
ON EFFECTIVE ACCESS TO THE LAW
AND TO JUSTICE FOR THE VERY POOR1
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 8 January 1993 at the 484ter meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)
The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe,
Recalling that, under the European Convention on Human Rights, member states proclaimed their attachment to human rights and fundamental freedoms; Referring to Resolutions (76) 5 on legal aid in civil, commercial and administrative matters and (78) 8 on legal aid and advice, to Recommendation No. R (81) 7 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on measures facilitating access to justice and to the United Nations resolutions on human rights and extreme poverty, in particular Resolution 46/121 of 17 December 1991 of the General Assembly and Resolution 1992/11 of 18 February 1992 of the Commission on Human Rights, as well as to the study prepared by the International Movement ATD-Fourth World entitled “Towards justice accessible to all: legal aid machinery and certain local initiatives as seen by families affected by severe poverty” [H (92) 2]; Concerned at the situation of the very poor – understood to mean persons who are particularly deprived, marginalised or excluded from society both in economic and in social and cultural terms; Considering that this situation of severe poverty continues to deprive men and women of the effective enjoyment of human rights which must be secured for all without distinction, in accordance with Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights; Convinced that efforts to promote access to the law and to justice will only be fully effective as part of a comprehensive, coherent and forward-looking policy aimed at combating severe poverty in cooperation with the population groups concerned; Recalling the principle of the indivisibility of human rights which implies that the enjoyment of civil and political rights such as those enshrined particularly in Articles 6, paragraph 3.c, and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights is not effective if economic, social and cultural rights are not equally protected; Reaffirming that attachment to human rights is linked to respect: for human dignity, especially as regards access to the law and to justice for the very poor; Recalling that in addition to the right of access to the law and to justice provided for in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the other provisions of the Convention and particularly
1. When this recommendation was adopted, and in application of Article 10.2.c of the Rules of Procedure for the meetings of the Ministers’ Deputies, the Representative of Austria reserved the right of Articles 2,3 and 8 are equally applicable to the very poor, as are the other legal instruments of the Council of Europe such as the European Social Charter; Considering that this recommendation is intended to improve, especially with regard to the very poor, existing legal advice and legal aid systems, and therefore to complement existing machinery with regard to the other categories of people for which the systems were designed, Recommends that the governments of member states:
1. Facilitate access to the law for the very poor (“the right to the protection of the law”) by:
2. Facilitate effective access to quasi-judicial methods of conflict resolution for the very poor by:
3. Facilitate effective access to the courts for the very poor, especially by the following means:
4. Consult whenever possible, in the framework of their general policy aimed at combating severe poverty, non-governmental organisations interested by the field covered by the present recommendation and voluntary organisations providing support to the very poor.
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