How the 'legal tools' initiative works

The 'legal tools for citizen empowerment' programme is coordinated by IIED, and also involves IIED's legal subsidiary, the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD).

Now in its pilot phase, the programme has core partners in Ghana (the Centre for Public Interest Law or CEPIL), Mali (Research Group on Applied Law and Sociology or GERSDA), Mozambique (Centro Terra Viva or CTV) and Senegal (Innovation, Environment and Development Africa - IED Afrique).

Legal Tools collaborators have also included institutions in these countries (such as the University of Ghana Law Faculty), as well as in other nations such as Tanzania. International partners include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).

A four-stranded approach

The Legal Tools approach has four strands.

• It generates knowhow through action-oriented research on the legal 'levers' that can influence the implementation of investment projects, such as ways to secure local land rights, legal requirements to consult villagers or contracts between investors and states.
• It strengthens villagers' capacity to use those levers.
• It shares lessons and experience from innovative legal initiatives such as legal literacy training, paralegal programmes or legal assistance to locals.
• It engages with policymakers, for instance through IIED researchers and partners attending meetings with advisors to investors or governments. 

The initiative:

• focuses on pushing the boundaries of existing law, while also promoting policy reform on selected strategic levers — such as rigid clauses in investment contracts that may make it more difficult to improve social and environmental standards over time
• works locally, nationally and internationally on legal levers to ensure that there is a cumulative impact. For instance, building local capacity is crucial, but key decisions are taken in negotiations between government and investors, so working 'upstream' is also important
• ensures any legal work takes account of the way different economic sectors, such as petroleum and tourism, are set up, as this shapes the negotiating power of local people
• aims to pinpoint which legal tools work across a number of sectors, ranging from agriculture to mining
• emphasises innovation and learning rather than large-scale implementation, given limited resources.