Economic barriers to access to the legal profession, the judiciary and jury membership

Access to the legal profession is limited by the cost of the necessary training, and also by the fact that in some countries the payment of a fee, either annually or on admission to the profession, to the appropriate professional association is required. To the degree that the judiciary is recruited from the legal profession, economic obstacles to an individual's becoming a lawyer also affect his hopes of becoming a judge.

Property or tax-paying qualifications are sometimes a prerequisite for membership of the judiciary. De facto economic barriers to access to the judiciary also exist; in particular, lack of finance limits access to the requisite educational processes. Property, tax-paying or salary qualifications are also often a prerequisite for jury service. As a result of these qualifications for being a juror, jury service is largely confined to the middle and upper classes while the poorer classes are often not represented.