Colonial Practices and Mechanisms Hampering Access to Administrative Justice: Empirical Evidence from a Multi-Local Case Study

This contribution looks at how colonial practices and mechanisms are still in place, hampering access to administrative justice for large groups of people. On the basis of three empirical case studies in different world regions – Northern Canada, the so-called Dutch Caribbean and South Africa – I will analyse common threads in how Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous people are (potentially and actually) hindered from access to public services and the involved rights and benefits.

Two pillars of discrimination in this sense are explored in more detail: First, the matter of language politics is investigated with empirical data. In the Canadian Northwest Territories, where half the population is Indigenous, people who work in the administration receive a bonus if they speak French, but not if they speak an Indigenous language, although there are nine of the latter. In Curacao, an island in the Dutch Caribbean with autonomous status since 2010, the laws are written in Dutch and ‘imported’ Dutch judges lead the court hearings in Dutch, although the majority of people speak Papiamentu.

Second, the digital transformation of public services taking shape around the world bears many opportunities, but the realization of these is conditional. My findings confirm the literature which suggests that digitalization has the potential to add barriers to accessing (administrative) justice, and it particularly concerns the already vulnerable and marginalized, often Indigenous and minority groups. The paper posits that digitalization of public services cannot be an end in itself; instead, the digital transformation should be used to improve social justice, also with regard to access to public services and the involved rights and benefits.

The findings are based on field research, including in particular interviews and focus groups with denizens, public ombuds’ employees, and civil servants as well as participatory observation.