The justice sector provides numerous services to citizens. These are often focused around court proceedings, involving criminal, civil and family law cases, and include legal aid services (information, counseling and representation) and waiver/deferment of court fees. Like services in other sectors, those in the justice sector may prove more difficult for poor persons to access. The obstacles they face include considerable lack of awareness of available services and the procedures they must undertake to access them, complicated procedures for accessing services, non-existence of services in practice, and the relatively high costs related fees. In recognition of these obstacles, governments in the Middle East region have taken some steps to fill gaps in service delivery, which includes introducing special services related to personal status cases. These initiatives are achieving mixed results. Overall service delivery remains weak, with services only available on a limited basis.
