Leveraging Rights Enforcement through Better Knowledge Sharing about Access to Justice. a Case Study Casting Light on a Compound Jurisdiction

The effective exercise of freedom depends in a variety of manners on the availability of sound and reliable knowledge provided by institutions, social and State-based, that are trust triggers. In the field of rights enforcement, especially when rights refer to vulnerable groups and fragile individuals, knowledge is not "simply" qualified as a stock of information concerning the type of rights they have. More often and more critically the key to access the effective demand of rights enforcement and protection or restauration consists into a knowledge that is "sense-meaning" conducive for these persons. The language that is used to channel basic information and the locus where the knowledge can be accessible are essential. The presentation draws from a unique case, the establishment amidst a complex agenda of reforms of a new court for families and children which is expected to enter into force in October 2025. The demand of knowledge, the capacity of the laypeople and especially of women to be effective empowered by the access to the knowledge about the different mechanisms of dispute resolution, the capacity to know the effects and the consequences of the actions undertaken, and the knowledge of how to communicate to other acquaintances and friendships the legal actions undertaken. The case study, based on fresh and field research, casts light on the complexity of communicating fact-based knowledge and technical information, in highly sensitive social contexts. The more the cultural dimensions of the demand of rights is left aside from the policy making and the tool design, the less the solutions and the policies seem to be capable to meet effective demands of the most vulnerable groups, who need to be addressed by meaningful information so to ensure they will be autonomously able - or enabled - to explain and justify in their contexts of life.