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Law and Policy Reform at the Asian Development Bank 2001
Legal Empowerment: Advancing Good Governance and Poverty Reduction

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The publication

• examines use of the law by disadvantaged groups – e.g., poor, women - to increase control over their lives (“legal empowerment”)
• reviews legal empowerment in 7 DMCs – Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
• identifies common themes and key factors and strategies for success
• recommends ways to integrate legal empowerment in development projects
• concludes that legal empowerment advances good governance, reduces poverty, and contributes to institutional reform.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in the role of law, and legal empowerment in development and development projects.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Law and Policy Reform at the Asian Development Bank, 2005 Law and Policy Reform at the Asian Development Bank, 2003 Law and Policy Reform at the Asian Development Bank, 2002 Law and Policy Reform at the Asian Development Bank, 2000, Vol. 2 Law and Policy Reform at the Asian Development Bank, 2000, Vol. 1 Law and Development at the Asian Development Bank, 1999

View the document [ PDF: 297kb | 176 pages ] To read, you need Acrobat.

Contents

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Table of Contents and Foreword [ PDF: 22kb | 9 pages ]

PART 1: An Overview of ADB's Law and Policy Reform Activities in 2000 [ PDF: 30kb | 6 pages ]

Introduction
Governance and Poverty Reduction
Deepening LPR
Enhancing the Capacity of the Judiciary and Government Lawyers
Judicial Independence
Systemic Issues in Legal and Judicial Reform
Legal Information
Combating Money Laundering
Insolvency and Secured Transactions
Pro-Poor Judicial Reform

Part 2: Legal Empowerment Advancing Good Governance and Poverty Reduction [ PDF: 83kb | 19 pages ]

Executive Summary

1. Introduction
2. The Nature and Purpose of Legal Empowerment
1. The Concept of Legal Empowerment
2. Origins of the Legal Empowerment Study
3. Constraints on Access to Justice and Participation in Governance by the Disadvantaged
3. Lessons Learned from Successful Legal Empowerment Strategies
1. The Basic Finding: Legal Empowerment Helps to Advance Good Governance and to Reduce Poverty
2. The Roles and Impact of Legal Empowerment
3. Features of Successful Legal Empowerment Work and the Environment in Which It Is Most Likely to Succeed
4. The Role of Legal Empowerment in Advancing Good Governance and Poverty Reduction: Survey Research in the Philippines and Bangladesh
5. Education and Training, the Media, and Institutional and Individual Roles
4. Recommendations
1. Integrating Legal Empowerment into Mainstream Socioeconomic Development Projects
2. Integrating Legal Empowerment into Legal Reform Projects
3. Other Legal Empowerment Initiatives

Part One: A Description of Legal Empowerment [ PDF: 111kb | 25 pages ]

1. Introduction
1. Overview
2. The Concept of Legal Empowerment
2. Origins of the Legal Empowerment Study
3. Methodology
4. Constraints on Access to Justice and Participation in Governance by the Disadvantaged
1. Lack of Economic Independence
2. Minimal Knowledge of Law and the Rights That It Confers
3. Limited Access to Affordable Legal Services
4. Declining Standards of Legal Education and Professional Integrity
5. Lack of Knowledge, Incentives, and Resources Among Government Officials
6. Limitations in the Outreach and Capacity of Civil Society Organizations
7. Flawed Systems of Laws and Regulations
8. Inconsistency Between Formal Law and Traditional Values
9. Lack of Legal Implementation
10. Patronage, Extreme Personalism, and Indifference
11. Law as a Historical Instrument of Control
12. Corruption
13. Learned Helplessness
5. Legal Empowerment Activities
1. Print Media
2. Television and Radio
3. Performing Arts and Popular Entertainment
4. The Internet
5. Distance Education
6. Youth Education
7. Community Law Libraries
8. Community-based Training
9. Training of Trainers
10. Paralegals
11. Alternative Dispute Resolution
12. Legal Aid
13. Public Interest Litigation
14. Administrative Advocacy
15. Educating and Training Government Officials

1. The Basic Finding
2. The Roles and Impact of Legal Empowerment
1. Increased Awareness of Rights
2. Increased Knowledge of Specific Legal Rights and Issues
3. Enhancement of Practical Legal Skills
4. Increased Confidence and Higher Expectations
5. Improved Access to the Legal System and Public Decision-making Processes
6. Successful Participation in Legal Implementation and Public Decision Making
7. Participation in Law, Regulatory, and Budgetary Reform
8. Greater Sensitivity, Responsiveness, and Accountability on the Part of Government Officials
9. Improvements in Material Circumstances
10. Other Kinds of Impact
3. Factors that Contribute to the Success of Legal Empowerment Work
A. Key Features of Successful Legal Empowerment Strategies
Feature One: Integrated strategies show the greatest success in advancing legal empowerment
Feature Two: Knowledge alone is insufficient
Feature Three: Civil society plays an important role in legal empowerment
Feature Four: Government can play an equally important role in legal empowerment
Feature Five: Organization is power
Feature Six: Legal empowerment occurs primarily at the community level
Feature Seven: Legal empowerment can potentially have an impact at the national level
Feature Eight: Effective legal empowerment is about legitimate self-interest
Condition One: Legal empowerment flourishes in a vibrant civil society environment
Condition Two: Education enhances the quality of legal empowerment work
Condition Three: Economic independence has a positive, but not determining, impact
Condition Four: An enabling local environment for legal empowerment work
Condition Five: Effective laws help to advance legal empowerment
Condition Six: An infrastructure of supportive services 90
4. The Role of Legal Empowerment in Advancing Good Governance and Poverty Reduction:Survey Research in the Philippines and Bangladesh
1. Philippine Agrarian Reform
2. Bangladesh NGO Services
5. Education, Training and Media
1. The Most Useful Kinds of Information for the Disadvantaged
2. The Most Effective Ways of Conveying Information
3. Who Should Design and Conduct Information Dissemination Activities?
4. Mass Media
5. The Future of the Internet
6. Individual and Institutional Roles
1. Courts, Lawyers, and Laypersons
2. Alternative Dispute Resolution as an Empowering Option
7. Sustainability: Perspectives and Strategies

1. Integrationg Legal Empowerment Into Socioeconomic Development Projects
2. Integrating Legal Empowerment Into Legal Reform Projects
3. Other Legal Empowerment Initiatives