May 2014: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has released a paper, titled ‘Implications of community-based legal aid regulation on women’s land rights.’ The paper explores the emergence of community-based legal aid (CBLA) programs as a strategy for bridging gaps between customary justice mechanisms and formal law and for improving access to legal services in rural areas.

IFPRI conducted a qualitative study on legal aid and women’s land rights in Uganda and Tanzania, which identified key characteristics in the selection of community-based paralegals. The paper focuses on the selection criteria for paralegals and their training curriculum within the context of a proposed Legal Aid Bill in Tanzania.

Several challenges exist in achieving gender balance among paralegals, which have broader implications for empowering women to exercise their land rights, according to the paper. For instance, gender disparity in education means that there is a smaller pool of eligible women, hindering the achievement of gender balance in paralegal selection. Further, men prefer to seek counsel from other males while women prefer women paralegals, especially on sensitive issues such as land rights; therefore, women may have more limited access to legal aid.

The paper also discusses the breadth versus the relevance of the paralegal training curriculum. The IFRPI study found wide variation in the type of assistance offered by paralegals, with some organizations focusing on domestic and marriage laws and others assisting with land titling and will writing. The brief concludes that, while many of the topics covered in the standard curriculum have wide application for paralegal services, other topics are only relevant for specific geographic areas or programs with a specific focus. It further concludes that programs with a particular focus, such as women’s land rights, may not benefit from an extensive curriculum.

Policies should “recognize the distinct roles of the different legal aid program models and the diversity of stakeholders involved in providing legal services,” according to the paper. It recommends designing legal aid regulations to improve the quality of legal services. The brief also makes suggestions for future analysis on legal aid policy and regulations, with an emphasis on analyzing educational and training requirements and service provision based on two “tiers” of paralegals, such as paralegal services at regional and community levels.

IFPRI is a part of the CGIAR Consortium. [IFPRI Press Release] [Publication: Implications of community-based legal aid regulation on women’s land rights]