Centre for Law, Economics and Society
The Centre for Law, Economics and Society (CLES) is a CDPP initiative that researches on the legal landscape in India.
The Centre for Law, Economics and Society (CLES) is a CDPP initiative that researches on the legal landscape in India.
The Centre for Law, Economics and Society (CLES) is a CDPP initiative that researches the legal landscape in India. Research areas include the challenges people face in accessing legal justice and identifying areas of improvement to provide quality legal aid services.
Access to justice means that individuals can have their legal rights and grievances addressed through the legal system. However, in India, access to justice faces many barriers, including the high cost of legal services, lack of legal representation in certain areas of the country, and a large number of pending cases that discourage people from seeking legal remedies. Access to justice can be particularly challenging for marginalised groups such as Muslims, Dalits, indigenous communities, and women, who often face discrimination and social barriers that limit their ability to access legal remedies.
The Constitution of India provides for legal aid services to ensure that everyone has access to justice regardless of their financial circumstances. However, legal service institutions frequently face challenges relating to infrastructure, uneven distribution of human resources, and inefficient utilisation of funds. Through research, CLES seeks to identify gaps in legal processes and generate evidence-based recommendations to strengthen access to justice, particularly for marginalised communities
Our research combines both secondary and primary methods. Secondary research involves the analysis of publicly available datasets and reports, particularly those published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), including Prison Statistics India and the Crime in India reports across multiple years. These datasets help identify broader trends and systemic issues relating to criminal justice and legal aid.
Primary research consists of selected state-level case analyses and qualitative assessments undertaken in collaboration with groups of lawyers and civil society organisations in Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana. These partnerships provide ground-level insights into legal aid delivery, barriers to accessing justice, and the lived experiences of individuals navigating the legal system.
CLES regularly publishes research outputs, annual reports, and monthly updates documenting ongoing work, findings, and developments in access to justice research.