This paper considers access to the rule of law as a requirement for the well-functioning of the rule of law in society. In most rule of law debates, access to the rule of law is not a topic of discussion because these scholars focus themselves solely on the legalistic dimension of the rule of law. Barber was the first to mention the social dimension explicitly but without a theoretical framework. Based on the three capitals of Bourdieu, this paper offers a framework to determine the elements of the social dimension. With these capitals, barriers to the access to the rule of law for individuals can be identified, and solutions can be offered.

Few legal theorists today would argue that the domain of law exists in isolation from other normative spheres governing society, notably from the domain of ‘politics’. Nevertheless, the implicit norm that judges should not act ‘politically’ remains influential and widespread in the debates surrounding controversial court cases. This article aims to square these two observations. Taking the Miller v. Secretary of State and Urgenda cases as illustrative case studies, the article demonstrates that what it means for judges to adjudicate cases ‘apolitically’ is itself a matter of controversy. In reflecting on their own constitutional role, courts are forced to take a stance on substantive questions of political philosophy. Nevertheless, that does not mean that the ‘norm of judicial apoliticality’ should therefore be rejected. The norm’s coherence lies in its intersocial function: its role in declaring certain modes of judicial interpretation and intervention legitimate (‘legal’/‘judicial’) or illegitimate (‘political’).

The authors discuss the space that can be found for restorative justice in decisions on human rights issues in the criminal procedure by the European Court of Human Rights, based on par. 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. There is room for restorative justice because the court accepts the waiver of the procedural rights and safeguards by the defendant, provided that he does so completely voluntarily, after being fully informed, and provided that there is no important public interest that stands in the way of out-of-court settlements. The alternative procedure to a full dressed criminal trial should, in addition, live up to such standards that the procedure can be judged fair. Pressures on avoiding unreasonable delay and legal counseling necessary to fully inform the defendant about his options can lead to a formalization of restorative procedures which can be a threat to the merits of restorative justice.