ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND LEGAL AID IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Whereas the Constitution of Cameroon, as well as duly ratified International Treaties and Conventions guarantee the right of every person to a fair hearing before the courts, this is not possible without a well-organized system of administration of justice, which incorporates the grant of legal aid through well-established structures. This becomes incumbent and exigent in a developing country such as Cameroon with a very low per capita income and a large rural population. Access to justice is hindered by a system of administration of justice that is characterized by the lack of an independent judiciary and fraught with corrupt practices and high cost of litigation. This paper critically examines the judiciary system in Cameroon in an analytical and comparative manner. It expatiates on the basic principles of administration of justice and its shortcomings. It looks at legal representation and its hindrances in the form of inaccessibility of lawyers to the criminal justice system when representing their clients, a concentration of lawyers in urban areas, irregularity and uncertainty in the organization of entrance examinations for aspirants to the legal profession amongst others. It equally examines the adequacy of the form of legal aid available to the poor and vulnerable in society, amongst whom are the indigent, women, children and the handicapped. Proposals are made for constitutional amendment in order to ensure a more independent judiciary as well as an amendment of the law on legal aid, a reform of the institutions in charge of disciplining magistrates as well as the use of paralegals as a form of legal aid and hence access to justice for the poor and vulnerable.