Community- based Paralegals: Legal Empowerment Approach to Land Conflict Resolution

Khin Htet WaiJunior Program Officer (Namati)

Land Issues in the Ayeyarwaddy

• Political and economic reform threatens rural livelihood

• Historical land grabbing cases

• Community land tenure and use rights are threatened by weak framework / institutions

• Our project:• 16 paralegals in 2 townships• Engagement with government on

policy change• 37 village tracts ( roughly 270 villages)

What does a Community Paralegal Do?

Advises clientsEducates Communities

Mediates Disputes Collects Case Data

How paralegals help resolve disputes- an example case

How we use case data to inform policy change

5%

33%

4%

0%0%

42%

15%

Who took the land?(Data from 200 land grab cases

across Myanmar)

company

govt min-istry

individual

local govt

MEC

military

unknown

Put All Together in this project ….

Since January…

• 1126 Community education participants- ( M-802/ F- 324)

• 44 cases opened by paralegals

• 6 cases have been resolved (historical land grabs, released land returned to farmers, and local land disputes)

• 5 engagements by project partners with regional government

• 4 trainings for paralegals

Some considerations for using the paralegal model…

• Has to use the law even if the

law is not perfect

• Increasing issues and challenges

of handling cases to bring

justices

• Consistency and quality of data

- Required to be trained and

supported well

• Unstable funding - support

frontline paralegals. (piloting

a pay-it-forward mechanism

with a different project)

• Increase legal awareness of citizens

• Knowledge and trust of local community

• Accessible & Cost-effective (free to clients)

• Find solutions for individuals and

communities

• Solve justice problems faster than courts

• Link lawyers for litigation or other experts

for advice , support

• In this project: LCG’s network involvement

allows dissemination of lessons learned

across Myanmar

Advantages Limitations

Thank you! Join the Global Legal Empowerment Network:

www.namati.org/joinKhin Htet Wai @ khinhtetwai@namati.org