Migration and poverty as sources of vulnerability in private International Law, with special reference to the right of access to justice

Abstract

This paper analyzes how migration and poverty operate as factors of vulnerability in contemporary Private International Law. Using a legal-dogmatic methodology, it examines the tensions between formal equality and real inequality faced by migrants and economically disadvantaged persons in accessing international justice. It highlights that migration, in itself, constitutes a source of vulnerability, whereas poverty must be demonstrated in each specific case as an obstacle to the effective exercise of rights. The study identifies a sufficient normative basis—both domestic and international—that obliges States to guarantee equality before the law and access to justice without discrimination. Through the analysis of jurisprudence, it is shown that due process requires differentiated protective measures, free legal assistance, and the removal of economic and linguistic barriers. The paper proposes a Private International Law of the vulnerable, guided by human dignity and the effectiveness of rights, combining international instruments, judicial technology, and redistributive public policies. Vulnerability generates need, and in the face of necessity, a law that provides effective responses must emerge.