Provide Equal Access to Justice and Enhance Legal Awareness Through the Use of ICT

Abstract

Access to justice is a fundamental human right that protects individuals from violating their rights. According to recent statistics, a significant number of Sri Lankans have been unable to obtain legal assistance and have given up on resolving their legal issues. The literature claims that this incident happens mainly due to a lack of legal education and limited access to legal resources. Such inefficiencies could cause inconveniences and incur unnecessary costs to citizens. Also, in most developing countries, there is a significant gap between citizens and the judiciary system. However, countries in the western hemisphere use multi-dimensional approaches to embed legal awareness into their daily lives. Thus, this study aims to introduce an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform to provide equal access to justice and increase legal awareness among Sri Lankan citizens. Data was gathered by using a survey, which is based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and semi-structured interviews. This research is largely exploratory, and data analysis was carried out using an open engagement strategy to determine the user requirements for the proposed ICT-based platform.