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This paper offers one practitioner’s perspective on the origins, evolution and possible direction of legal empowerment (LE), which in some ways is a new field and in others is a continuation of many kinds of efforts linked by certain common elements. While receiving increasing international donor attention and support (though still relatively little compared to conventional law-and-development programmes), most legal empowerment work is primarily carried out by international and country-specific civil society groups because they tend to demonstrate more of the requisite initiative, dedication and flexibility than do government agencies. A limited but growing array of research findings indicates more legal empowerment progress and impact than that demonstrated by top-down, government-centred legal programmes, such as judicial reform.
For legal empowerment, the next two decades could bring increasing use of the term, launching of relevant initiatives and evidence of impact. Another conceivable outcome, however, could be that the term will thrive but the underlying concept, activities and strategies will barely survive – that legal empowerment terminology could mask many conservative, state-centric programmes. In a more constructive vein, the future of LE should include broader and deeper research, going beyond the initial efforts underway and generating evidence of various initiatives’ impact (or lack thereof) and resulting lessons. Finally, and most hopefully, the most potentially powerful trend for legal empowerment could fall outside the justice sector. That is, ironically, the greatest potential for the field could involve its increased integration into socioeconomic and governance development initiatives, such as those pertaining to health service delivery or local government budget accountability.
This paper is part of the Innovations in Rule of Law - A Compilation of Concise Essays Report. To view the full paper, click here.
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