Gerald Abila for TEDx Talks, posted 06/03/2015
An older talk but something I’ve found particularly useful in contributing to the conversation regarding improved access to justice and legal services. Abila gives a heartfelt speech that highlights the issues faced, particularly in Ugandan society as well as stressing the ways in which his organisation (Barefoot Law) is creating change through technology and how this change can continue to be made. I found it particularly interesting to view this issue from a Ugandan prespective, a nation too often ignored in legal conversations.
- Abila begins by highlighting the lack of access to justice present in modern Ugandan society, states this is strongly linked to corruption, excessive formalism and the expense of accessing legal services as well as the significant backlog of cases faced by courts.
- He then focuses on the significant number of citizens that have mobile phones and access to Wi-Fi, asking how this can be utilised to combat the concerning situation regarding access to justice.
- Abila explains the free app created by himself and his peers intended to improve access to justice by connecting citizens with lawyers, exchanging legal documents and opinions on current legal issues. The initiative was later developed to include a skype account to offer face to face advice and representation without the need to travel.
- The initiative is organised into a pyramid with tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 products.
- Tier 1 include clients with a basic level of interaction with the (social media, phone calls etc.)
- Tier 2 includes clients with a more significant level of engagement (Skype, in person visits)
- Tier 3 includes notorious and recurring issues in certain localities where interventions are organised.
- The initiative (Barefoot Law) is moving forward to include a free network to provide legal services and continue to promote access to legal services, teaming up with legal and non-legal organisations to create more widespread and relevant legal assistance by forwarding cases related to specific issues to organisations with expertise specific to those issues.
- People with specific knowledge in communities to be given a tablet with access to the Barefoot Law app who can forward the clients legal questions to the app and explain the advice received to the client.
- Barefoot Law also aims to translate services into further languages.
Any mistakes, innaccuracies or misrepresentations are entirely my own error for which I take sole responsibility and will rectify upon becoming aware of the situation.
Rachel Lawson – I am a 2nd year Scots Law student at the University of Dundee, the 2019 recipient of the Harold How memorial award (for most meritorious first year law student) and have an avid interest in how the legal field will develop in the coming years and technology’s impact on this.
Law, Technology and Innovation 