DECENTRALIZING JUSTICE: STRENGTHENING LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR LOCAL SELF -GOVERNANCE AND GRASSROOTS DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Povzetek

Across the Global South and North alike, courts are overburdened, legal costs deter participation, and
justice often arrives late. Decentralizing justice—through empowered local self-governance institutions
and community-level dispute resolution—offers a complementary pathway that can widen access, reduce
delay, and embed justice within everyday life. This paper develops a comprehensive account of why and
how to strengthen the legal frameworks that enable grassroots dispute resolution. It synthesizes theory
from legal pluralism, polycentric governance, and restorative justice; surveys comparative experiences
(including village or barangay justice, customary forums, community courts, and state-recognized
mediation); and examines opportunities and pitfalls in ope-rationalizing decentralization in contemporary
constitutional democracies (with illustrations from India, Kenya, the Philippines, South Africa, New
Zealand, and Canada). The analysis foregrounds the tension between accessibility and rights protection,
emphasizing due process, gender equality, minority safeguards, and appellate oversight as nonnegotiable
architecture.
Methodologically, the paper adopts a doctrinal and comparative approach, augmented by a designoriented
“law-in-action” framework that translates principles into implementable institutional blueprints.
It proposes a model statute and policy toolkit: (1) clear legal recognition of community forums; (2)
jurisdictional design focused on civil, family, tenancy, neighborhood, and low-value commercial matters;
(3) standardized training and accreditation for community mediators; (4) layered oversight and review
by regular courts; (5) data, funding, and outcome-tracking; and (6) digital-first infrastructure with ethical
online dispute resolution (ODR). The paper concludes that decentralization can democratize justice only
if it is normative anchored in constitutional values, procedural disciplined, and empirically stewarded
through evidence-based governance.