Access to Justice in European Law: Moving from ãAccess to CourtsÓ Towards a Substantive, Horizontal and Comprehensive Approach

The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009 was supposed to have far-reaching implications for the development of a European policy on justice and access to justice as it constitutionalized for the first time this important topic. However, at the time of writing, European Union (EU) law has been unable to construct and provide a proper system of access to justice for European citizens across all European Member States. In particular, the study of the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg shows that the European model of access to justice based on litigation, access to courts and on the defense of individual rights is inherently limited. The author advocates a change of approach, aiming for a better definition of a substantive notion of access to justice in the light of a broad system of European social justice and equality. This new approach could be based on the classic theory and methodology of access-to-justice developed in the early 80s by Professor Mauro Cappelletti. His encyclopaedia on the topic offered a horizontal comprehensive strategy to construct a justice system and procedural laws based on the needs of the ordinary citizens.