This book offers insight on access to justice from rural areas in internationally comparable contexts to highlight the diversity of experiences within, and across rural areas globally.

It looks at the fundamental questions for people’s lives raised by the issue of access to justice as well as the rule of law. It highlights a range of social, geographic and cultural issues which impact the way rural communities experience the justice system throughout the world with chapters on Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Kenya, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, the USA and Wales.

Each chapter explores three questions:
1. How do people experience the institutions of justice in rural areas and how does this rural experience differ to an urban experience?
2. What impact have changes in policy had on the justice system in rural areas, and have rural and urban areas been affected in different ways?
3. What impact does the law have on people’s lives in rural areas and what would rural communities like to be better understood about their experience of the justice system?

By bringing in the voices and experiences of those who are often ignored or side-lined by justice systems, this book will set out an agenda for ensuring social justice in legal systems with a focus on protecting marginalised groups.