Over a period of three years, Norway has been supporting the work of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor. The Commission submitted its report to the UN Secretary-General on 3 June 2008.
Report from the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor – Summary and Further Follow-up
The Commission, which was originally a Norwegian/Nordic initiative, has been made up of more than 20 world leaders, with Hilde F. Johnson representing Norway. It has been co-chaired by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Peruvian economist Professor Hernando de Soto.
The Commission was mandated to put the issue of legal empowerment higher on the international agenda, provide an overview of how exclusion occurs, and make recommendations to politicians regarding what can be done to ensure social inclusion of the poor.
The Commission’s conclusion is that four billion people worldwide are excluded from access to justice and the rule of law//legal protection and opportunities**. In some countries, over 70% of economic activities take place in the informal sector, without legal protection.** The majority of those living their daily lives in the informal sector are women. They lack basic rights such as having a legal identity, property rights, legal employment//decent work (latter used in report – see p. 130//147)** and business rights. The importance//size** of this sector has long been underestimated in the context of international development and development assistance. The Commission’s five working groups have examined areas such as access to justice and the rule of law, property rights, labour rights and business rights. In the recommendations presented, advice is given on the following**: i) how access to justice and the rule of law** can be reformed** in individual countries in order to ensure universal legislation that safeguards the poor; ii) how property rights can be used as tools for fighting poverty; iii) how a minimum package of labour rights is to be ensured for workers; and iv) how the poor involved in economic activities can be given both protection and opportunities through laws and regulations.
Some of the most important recommendations relate to strengthening legal empowerment at the local level and providing affordable legal aid, along with ensuring quick and simple property registration procedures and basic rights for people in the informal sector. The Commission also recommends that property rights should be used creatively, and that collective rights should be used as a tool for providing the poor with access to technology and financial services. At the same time, it emphasises that the various rights are interrelated, that property rights must be safeguarded and that access to services at the local level must also be provided.**??
One important finding is that there is a connection between the right to safe and protected work, the right to do business within the bounds of the law, and property rights. These are three pillars that must be put in place through a process of legal empowerment reforms in which everyone is given access to justice and the rule of law.**
Now it is up to the UN system and individual countries to follow up the Commission’s recommendations at country level, along with donor countries and other interested parties. In particular, the World Bank, the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)** and the UN Development Programme (UNDP)** will continue to pursue the legal empowerment agenda. The aim is that these efforts will contribute to achieving the first of the Millennium Development Goals.
In its efforts connected to the legal empowerment agenda, Norway has focused particularly on promoting the rights of women and indigenous people to legal protection and opportunities. Norway has sought to place greater emphasis on instruments such as collective rights and user rights, given Norway’s experience with land issues. Norway has supported 22 consultations where organisations representing the poor have participated in setting the agenda. But above all, Norway has sought to mobilise experts on land issues and other rights-related issues, combining professional fields in a stimulating way and forming the basis for new networks to be built across professional boundaries.
This approach, namely establishing an independent commission to examine an issue of global importance, has been used before to put ideas into action, often with good results. Norway has contributed to the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor’s work both in terms of the methods used and the substance of the recommendations given. If we are to realise the vision of a world where the billions of people currently living without proper access to justice and the rule of law are included in society and can themselves begin to contribute economically and socially, we are obliged to take action.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now follow up the various recommendations for the global level in selected forums, as well as those for the regional level where this is appropriate, while at the same time being alert to initiatives that can be followed up nationally and locally. Civil society and grass roots organisations will be important partners in these efforts, as will the Academic Network on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (ANLEP), which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established in cooperation with the University of Oslo. (**its own website does not mention UD**). Norad’s specialist responsibility will be defined more clearly in due course. The Ministry’s formalisation agenda project will be concluded, but the issue will remain a “focal point” for further follow-up when relevant.