Colorado § 13-5.7-101 - Legislative declaration.

§ 13-5.7-101. Legislative declaration.

(1) The general assembly finds and declares that:

(a) Access to justice is a basic principle of the rule of law, and it ensures that all persons, institutions, and entities, public and private, including the state itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated. In the absence of access to justice, people are unable to have their voice heard, exercise their rights, challenge discrimination, or hold decision makers accountable.

(b) Lack of access to justice is a problem that has serious social, legal, economic, and political consequences;

(c) Since 2003, the Colorado access to justice commission has collaborated with organizations concerned about the gap in access to justice in Colorado to develop and support a range of tools, policies, and services to address this gap. The commission has served as a hub for the many stakeholders working on access to the civil legal process without statutory acknowledgment.

(d) From 2003 to the present, the need for access to justice and the importance of improving access have grown, but the challenges of access to justice in Colorado and around the nation have become more acute;

(e) A study by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the university of Denver found that access to justice is a broad societal problem, with sixty-six percent of the American population experiencing at least one legal problem in the past four years and with less than half of those problems being completely resolved;

(f) People with fewer economic resources are a vulnerable population due to lack of access to justice, and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color are particularly vulnerable as they encounter legal issues at a higher rate and of greater seriousness than other populations, according to the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the university of Denver. A 2022 study by the Legal Services Corporation found that low-income Americans do not receive any or enough legal help for ninety-two percent of their legal problems.

(g) In response to these trends, in 2021, the commission undertook a systematic statewide study to better understand the challenges facing those trying to resolve civil legal problems. The commission conducted a total of forty-one different listen and learn sessions, meeting virtually with legal and community service providers in each of Colorado's twenty-two judicial districts. The study revealed that, due to the complexity of legal matters and the prohibitive cost of legal help, barriers to access impact Coloradans of all backgrounds and from all walks of life.

(h) The COVID-19 pandemic required experimentation and innovation in Colorado's court system and elsewhere, uncovering ways that the legal system can work better for people and organizations with legal needs; and

(i) There is an intersection of need and opportunity with respect to access to civil justice for all Coloradans, such that the commission's ongoing work merits statutory recognition, informing the governor and general assembly through regular, systematic input from the commission.

(2) Therefore, the general assembly recognizes that access to civil courts is a pillar of democracy and enacts this article 5.7 to codify the Colorado access to justice commission and affirm its commitment to equitable access to the civil legal process.

Source: L. 2023: Entire article added, (HB 23-1280), ch. 308, p. 1879, § 1, effective August 7.