ABSTRACT
In many legal systems there is increasingly a variety of techniques that are developed to promote access to justice. It can be argued that from society’s perspective, promoting access to justice fulls an important goal, not only from the point of view of social justice (providing victims-plaintiffs with the opportunity to enforce their rights), but also from an economic angle. Limits on access to justice may lead to a situation whereby social costs are thrown on society at large and not sufciently internalized. It is therefore no surprise that in many legal systems a variety of techniques has been developed or is in full development in order to encourage access to justice, particularly for plaintiffs who may have meritorious claims but who simply are not in the nancial position to bring their claim.1 Moreover, encouraging access to justice is also a way of stimulating private enforcement of laws, which is high on the policy agenda in many jurisdictions.2
