Introduction to Legal Empowerment

WHY LEGAL EMPOWERMENT? – The IDEAL Injustices are supposed to be addressed by an effective legal system. The law is supposed to be just, fair, and responsive to the needs of individuals, groups, and communities.

WHY LEGAL EMPOWERMENT? – The REALITY Law is not always just. Implementation of the law is not always fair. In many cases, laws and legal processes can cause further injustices. In many cases, the system works against disadvantaged individuals and communities.

WHY LEGAL EMPOWERMENT? – The REALITY In 2008, the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor reported that four billion people live outside the protection of the law.

WHY LEGAL EMPOWERMENT? – The GOAL Marginalized groups (victims of injustices) must have the opportunity and ability to take action and effectively address their justice issues. The direct participation of these groups and communities in asserting their rights is essential.

WHAT is LEGAL EMPOWERMENT? Use of law and rights specifically to help increase disadvantaged populations’ control over their lives. Golub and McQuay, Legal Empowerment: Advancing Good Governance and Poverty Reduction, in Law and Policy Reform at the Asian Development Bank (2001)

WHAT is LEGAL EMPOWERMENT? A process of systemic change through which the poor and excluded become able to use the law, the legal system, and legal services to protect and advance their rights and interests as citizens. Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Making the Law Work for Everyone: Volume One, Report of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (2008).

people claim rights people have the ability to use the law people use the law to advance their rights and interests

LEGAL + EMPOWERMENT = LEGAL EMPOWERMENT Which is the main word? LEGAL or EMPOWERMENT? Which is emphasized? “USE OF LAW” or “ABILITY TO USE LAW”? Is it a PROCESS or a GOAL?

USE the law SHAPE the law LEGAL EMPOWERMENT KNOW the law Helping people, especially those who are victims of grave societal injustices, to have the capacity to: KNOW the law USE the law SHAPE the law

KNOW the law USE the law SHAPE the law https://publicdomainvectors.org/en/ SHAPE the law

Change FROM TO Lack of knowledge, inaccessibility of information Knowledge and critical understanding Helplessness and inaction Action - asserting rights, resisting violations (especially collective action) Absence of responsive policies, presence of unjust policies Responsive policies, more participatory policy making

Strategic shift FROM TO Legal aid or legal services Legal empowerment People as beneficiaries or recipients of services People as active seekers of justice, claimants of rights Unresponsive (sometimes repressive) government More accountable government

WHAT is LEGAL EMPOWERMENT? FOCUS of LEGAL EMPOWERMENT: Not on providing services, but on strengthening the capacity of people to act Going beyond institutional support to courts and other government justice agencies, but prioritizing support to grassroots communities

WHAT is LEGAL EMPOWERMENT? PERSPECTIVE of LEGAL EMPOWERMENT: Not accepting the law as it is, but working towards institutional changes in policy and practice Addressing individual cases, but focusing primarily on systemic injustices Communities seen not as victims or beneficiaries, but as claimants of rights and active participants in the justice system

LEGAL EMPOWERMENT USE the law to address justice issues Helping people, especially those who are victims of grave societal injustices, to have the capacity to: KNOW (and understand) the law USE the law to address justice issues SHAPE the law to correct systemic injustices

AGREE or DISAGREE? Legal Empowerment requires, as a pre-condition, a working justice system.

AGREE or DISAGREE? The main reason for the training of community paralegals is to address the supply issue – the lack of lawyers.

AGREE or DISAGREE? Legal Empowerment should be a sequence – starting with knowing the law, then using the law, then shaping the law?

AGREE or DISAGREE? In Legal Empowerment, a key objective is to eliminate the need for lawyers.

AGREE or DISAGREE? Legal Empowerment programs cannot be mainly initiated by governments.

SPECIAL ROLE OF COMMUNITY PARALEGALS Grassroots paralegals are at the center of Legal Empowerment Programs they are usually members of the communities directly affected by the justice issues they understand the issues involved they are more accessible to community members they complement the work of lawyers and legal service NGOs

WHY COMMUNITY PARALEGALS? Internal resource as opposed to external counsel Response is more prompt Action is more responsive Practical in terms of cost Focus is beyond individual cases Approach is community-based

INTEGRATED APPROACH Litigation, Mediation, Education, Negotiation, Legal Advice, Advocacy Availing of multiple venues for resolution of justice issues Multi-sectoral, connected to community- organizing and social movements

Can be Sequential SHAPE Law USE Law KNOW Law

Can be Cyclical USE Law SHAPE Law KNOW Law

Interlocking gears? Shape Use Know How about this?

LEGAL EMPOWERMENT easy as 1 2 3

easy as 1 2 3 ???

Making the Law Work for Everyone, Report of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor If law is a barrier to the poor who wish to better their condition, if it is seen as an obstacle to dignity and security, then the idea of law as a legitimate institution will soon be renounced. If the law is accepted and understood as offering protection and equality of opportunity, and ensuring access to fair and neutral process, then the law will be revered as a foundation of justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr. “But those who adhere to the method of nonviolent, direct action recognize that legislation and court orders tend only to declare rights – they can never thoroughly deliver them. Only when the people themselves begin to act are rights on paper given lifeblood. Life is breathed into a judicial decision by the persistent exercise of legal rights until they become usual and ordinary in human experience.” (The Case Against “Tokenism,” New York Times Magazine, 5 August 1962)