5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Globally, it has been taken for granted that access to the criminal justice system by every citizen in democratic states is free and equal. Relying on reflections and secondary sources, the systems are reported to be discriminatory, besides other impediments to access. Other sources further suggest that the quality of access to the criminal justice services is a function of citizens’ social and economic variables. However, given some contradictions on ground, the criminal justice services appear to be practically and observably not equally accessible by all citizens of diverse social and economic categories in different countries. The main question is: how accessible are the criminal justice services to the marginalised groups? Against this backdrop, this session organises for presentations around barriers and difficulties encountered by the marginalised groups (women, immigrants, poor, LGBTQI, etc) in accessing the services provided by the criminal justice organs of the state. Based on the above, this session calls for ideas and papers that interrogate the range of barriers to criminal justice services’ access by the marginalised groups in the society. This session becomes important as the ‘free and equal access’ to criminal justice presumption increasingly remains a wish rather than reality in many countries. Expected outcomes from this session will include ways to enhance citizens’ equal access to the criminal justice services, especially the marginalised groups.