THE MAIN CONCERN of this book is to highlight the problems faced by the majority of urban inhabitants and so identify the need for new approaches to community management in terms of both governance and access to justice. "A civilization that is unable to solve the problems raised by its own functioning is decadent. A civilization that chooses to close its eyes to its problems is sick. A civilization that cheats on its principles is dying." Aime Cesaire's words, quoted in the foreword, underpin the first chapter, which lists the problems faced by city dwellers and identifies the failures of the legal systems that are supposed to serve them.

All surveys show that the main victims of crime are poor people who are underserved by the justice and police systems. The author links urban crime to socioeconomic conditions, and describes the types of conflict found in cities around the world such as violence, drugs, mob justice and organized crime. The social and territorial ties of the latter are strong, as an example from Cali in Colombia shows. There, many of the poor survive on aid given by gang leaders and, consequently, oppose the police when they try to deal with organized crime in certain parts of the city. The justice debate is inseparable from the debate on economic justice, and survival strategies of the poor must be taken into account in legal processes.

The author discusses the introduction of ombudsmen and community mediators in some African cities. In 1995, a survey of the Ministers of Justice of the French-speaking world found that the majority of ministers questioned considered the private individual less a citizen with rights than a user of their legal systems. Other surveys in Latin America and Europe indicate that significant majorities of people, including the middle classes, are disillusioned with the legal process.

The second chapter begins with a definition of proper urban governance as a combination of efficient urban management and genuine local democracy. The prevention of urban crime should therefore go hand in hand with broader social development strategies. Four short case studies from Dakar, Cali, Saint Denis and Glenorchy, Australia are presented to illustrate this approach. The strategies adopted emphasize mediation between offenders and victims, education in community participation and health and welfare projects, the combating of social exclusion and better links between the police and community.

Legal systems have tended to resist innovative community-led schemes because they are informal. The strongest initiatives to master the law and instigate new methods of settling disputes are linked to community action, especially in the context of access to land and services. Various ways of making the law accessible to the wider public are discussed, including mobile para-legal centres, theatre, vernacular translations of legal journals and neighbourhood discussion groups. Ethnic justice is also considered, with examples of good practice in community mediation. In conclusion, the point is made that there is a plurality of sources of law and that successful approaches to justice marry the different sources.