The Role of Informal Justice Institutions: An Overview of its Existence and Functioning in Justice Disbursement

Abstract: In the contemporary globalized world justice dispensation by the state has generated grave concerns as the state sponsored formalized judicial system has failed to prioritize this basic human need. Under most circumstances the justice systems has failed inordinately to bring about equalitarian conditions further delegitimizing the authority of the formalized structures. The ability of the state to render justice to citizens has come under severe scrutiny as the emphasis today is on ‘inclusive governance ’ rather than on mere administration. Though it is the obligation of the state to provide accessible justice to ‘all ’ but that not indicate that all justice should be dispensed through the formalized structures only. Judicial empowerment of the poor has been the cry of the millennium. Discussion on the rights and justice needs of the poor and vulnerable have remained tethered to the notion of balancing these with culture and custom without engaging with a more dynamic and result-oriented approach. Until a few decades back engagement with the informal justice institutions has not been on the agenda of development interventions in judicial systems. The emphasis paid in most recent literature has shifted inordinately from formal structures of justice disbursement to informal institutions and indicates that a proper environment is a first requisite for any proper justice dispensation