ABSTRACT

The 2015 Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 goals and 169 targets designed to transform the world in 15 years by the year 2030. Among these is goal 16.3 which seeks to promote access to justice for all. As Cameroon seeks to develop, developmental activities may sometimes impact on society, the environment and the rights of citizens are sometimes infringed upon. Cognisant of this and based on the state’s duty to Promote, Protect and fulfil the human rights of its citizens, the state has put in place policy, legal and institutional frameworks intended to afford the citizens access to justice. However, this is not always the case and citizens find it difficult to vindicate their rights. The need for the study is therefore to critically assess Cameroon’s legal, institutional and policy frameworks towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goal of promoting access to justice for all in Cameroon. The study adopts the qualitative research methodology which involves the content analysis and
interpretation of primary and secondary data, focus group discussions, the use of unstructured interviews and observations of the researcher. The study reveals that while the efforts made so far by Cameroon are commendable, the full attainment of the goal is hampered by numerouschallenges like constitutional and jurisprudential restrictions, the Lack of independence of the judiciary, an a rchaic judicial system that stagnates due to lack of reforms, endemic corruption, and above all the on-going Anglophone crises since 2016. In the face of these challenges, the study concludes that Cameroon’s chances of attaining the sustainable development goal of promoting Access to Justice for all as envisaged in SDG 16.3 by 2030 are limited. The study therefore recommends that immediate constitutional reforms be initiated to address these challenges in order to improve on access to justice for all in Cameroon.