The Case for mLegal

The legal divide marginalizes people, communities, and institutions that are unable to engage with even the most basic government services. As a result, billions of businesses, homes, and crimes exist outside the purview of government protections. The UN estimates that in some places, these informal or “shadow” transactions represent as much as 90 percent of business.Perhaps more concerning is that this is most prevalent among those who need legal safeguards the most.

Remote and poor communities, traditionally the people most vulnerable to abuse and exclusion, face additional obstacles to justice. Distance, education, and cost present often insurmountable challenges to accessing institutions or basic services. The increasing cost of legal services has forced these people to rely on overwhelmed publicly supported legal aid, public defense, or administrative service providers. These legal services, where they exist, are increasingly being cut or drastically altered due to budget reforms.

Even in comparatively effective legal systems, a shortage of resources in publicly supported legal services results in the functional exclusion of large swaths of most populations. The international community is candid about the fact that after decades of programming and billions of dollars, the rule of law has yet to reach the bottom of the pyramid. As a result, the poor remain unable to defend their rights, livelihoods, homes, and families.