Between the Court and the Street: Exploring the Respective Barriers to Access to Justice and Drivers of Street Justice in Nigeria

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, in light of the premium on access to justice, underscores the imperative to ‘provide access to justice for all’. Justice is sought by all in the pursuit of their rights and interests. In effect, it is ‘a given’ that access to justice is just as important as access to all other SDGs that include, but are not limited to, health, water, and education, which the United Nations and other global bodies are striving to deploy to the doorstep of ‘the common man’. People cherish justice so much so that they may be tempted to seek it at all cost and by all means in certain circumstances. Ideally, justice is pursued via the courts and other mechanisms that human societies have, in their wisdom, instituted. However, in circumstances where the judicial mechanism does not 
work for the good of all, street justice unfortunately turns out to be the norm. This paper focuses on the barriers to access to justice and the drivers of street justice and the interplay of factors that attend them. Engaging with secondary data, the paper examined the provisions of the laws guaranteeing access to justice, the barriers in the justice system hindering access to justice and the propellers of street justice and other alternatives that people explore when they feel short changed from access to justice. The research proffered recommendations, derivable from the established findings, that inform choices, guide judges, provoke regulators, enlighten lawyers, influence policy makers, interest the public and, ultimately enrich knowledge and add upon existing literatures.