Samenvatting

The aim of this research is to look at the access to justice for the poor communities living
in less developed contexts and to examine whether technology can provide a solution for
improving access to justice. For this purpose the central question behind the research is:
“How can technological innovations improve access to justice of poor communities in
less-developed countries in light of global connectivity?”
Within the current study, the literature review establishes the theoretical framework with
a number of concepts, trends, and problematic situations regarding access to justice. As
part of the secondary data, substantial desk research was conducted in this regard. This
data was further developed and concrete examples were investigated through a mixedmethod
approach of research. Conducting a case study on the topic of Mobile Justice in
Kenya and interviewing two legal professionals for input and opinions provided valuable
insight into some of the tendencies in the field. In the analytical discussion, the gathered
information was critically assessed through the definitions and assumptions set during
the literature review. This provided for outlining trends and conclusions.
The research arrived at the conclusion that access to justice is presented as an idealistic
assumption in theory. However, in terms of practical applicability, equal access to justice
can be considered as a utopia for a significant number of people worldwide. Particularly,
the poor and marginalized communities seem to suffer the most from limited access to
justice. This is ascribed to a number of barriers, such as financial obstacles,
geographical remoteness, and lack of information and awareness.
Applying technological innovations seems to be a very promising model for improving
the access to justice for these people. Such tools have been recognized to be costeffective,
scalable, applicable to more communities and widely accessible, due to the
spread of technology and mobile devices. Despite some of the limitations of the study
that call for further research on examples and evaluation, the central question of this
dissertation can be answered:
Technological innovations can improve access to justice for poor communities in less
developed countries by providing cost-effective tools for these people to empower them
in overcoming the barriers that impede this access.