Legal Aid & Justice Access Project (CLES)
Looking Ahead
USIPI remains committed to scaling community-based legal empowerment and advancing structural reform. In 2026, the initiative will continue expanding the CLES case database while deepening research and documentation on systemic barriers within India’s criminal justice system.
Through evidence-backed advocacy, research publications, and collaboration with legal scholars and practitioners, CLES and its partners are working to build a legal system that is more equitable, accessible, and accountable—especially for India’s most vulnerable citizens.
Identifying the Problem
India’s marginalized communities—particularly Muslims, Dalits, and Adivasis—face disproportionate challenges in accessing timely and effective justice. From prolonged pre-trial detention and inadequate legal aid to systemic discrimination and poor representation, structural barriers often deepen existing social inequities.
Many remain in prolonged pre-trial detention, lack access to qualified counsel, and contend with bureaucratic inefficiencies. Under-resourced and often opaque, legal institutions become barriers rather than pathways to justice for those who need them most.
USIPI’s strategic intervention
Over the past few years, USIPI has deepened its work on justice access through its partnership with the Centre for Law, Economics and Society (CLES) and the Centre for Development Policy and Practice (CDPP). This multi-year initiative focuses on examining structural barriers within India’s criminal justice system—particularly those affecting marginalized communities—through research, documentation, and data-driven analysis.
Core activities include:
Mapping areas of acute legal aid need across select states
Analyzing prison and court data to understand patterns of detention and judicial delay
Conducting field studies to document systemic obstacles faced by vulnerable populations navigating the legal process
Building case documentation and research outputs that illuminate patterns within the justice system
Engaging with legal scholars, practitioners, and policy institutions to interpret findings and support reform efforts
Insights from this work are shared through case databases, research publications, and public engagement initiatives aimed at strengthening dialogue among lawyers, scholars, and policy practitioners
Impact to date
Compilation of 150+ case studies documenting patterns and barriers within the justice process
Development of a case database tracking detention trends, judicial timelines, and access to legal representation
Regional analyses of court and incarceration data to better understand systemic delays within the justice system
Public-facing explainers, webinars, and discussions that make complex legal developments more accessible to communities and the diaspora
In June 2025, CLES published findings highlighting structural challenges within India’s undertrial system, including prolonged detention, legal illiteracy among detainees, and delays in access to representation. The report may be accessed here.
This work reflects USIPI’s belief that meaningful justice reform must be informed by both lived experience and credible evidence.