The work of the groups is guided by Legal Empowerment’s goals and objectives as described in the Concept Paper launching the Commission and the Agreed Principles and Conceptual Framework (Outcome Document from the First Commission Meeting). Updated scope of work for the Working Groups can be found in the Reports and Publications section of this website.

WORKING GROUP #1: Access to Justice and Rule of Law
Chair: Lloyd Axworthy
This Working Group will focus on how the poor can be legally empowered and poverty reduced through the expansion of the rule of law, as defined by national views and structures. The Working Group will consider the top-down and bottom-up processes necessary for generating effective reforms and practical recommendations, and will examine legal tools accessible to all people.

WORKING GROUP #2: Property Rights
Chair: Ashraf Ghani
This Working Group will look at how the poor can be legally empowered and poverty reduced when the poor have enforceable rights over property and other assets in a transparent, functional system. Property rights are not only about title registration, surveying, mapping and the availability of records, which many countries in the world – rich and poor – already have, but equally about creating system of rights, obligations and enforcements that enables all people to protect their assets and use them to create trust, obtain credit, capture investment, access markets, raise productivity and protect their rights. This Working Group will explore the lessons learned from global experiences about comprehensive rights systems that include collective rights, customary rights and user rights and how these lessons can be applied in the creation of new policies targeting legal empowerment. 

WORKING GROUP #3: Labor Rights
Chair: Allan Larsson
This Working Group will look at how the poor can be legally empowered and poverty reduced when the gap between the formal and informal economy is bridged and labor rights are respected. The Working Group will study the factors that constrain participation in the formal economy and the challenges to enforcing labor rights. The group will make practical recommendations on how to facilitate convergence between formal and informal systems and the enforcement of labor standards.

WORKING GROUP #4: Legal Mechanisms to Empower Informal Businesses
Chair: Medhat Hassanein
This Working Group will study how the poor can be legally empowered and poverty reduced by allowing people to have easy access to legal organizational forms. The Working Group will consider how the entrepreneurial innovation and creativity found in the informal economy can be channeled, so that the poor face fewer barriers to a sustained involvement in the formal economic system. It will also examine local financial capacity, and incentives for lenders to expand access to credit for individuals and enterprises owned or operated by the poor.

WORKING GROUP #5: Road maps for implementation of reforms: Implementation strategies, including Toolkits and indices
Chairs: Hilde Johnson and Milinda Moragoda
This Working Group will synthesize the key practical outputs of the four other Working Groups and focus on the implementation of reforms in the area of legal empowerment. The Working Group will identify possible road-maps for reform, policy options and toolkits and indices for use by policymakers around the world. The Group will also consider the creation of an inventory of possible “do’s” and “don’ts”, a check-list for policy makers, and develop indicators that would facilitate monitoring of such reform-processes. Their work will draw on existing guidelines, frameworks, manuals, indices, indicators and other related aides, which can help the key audiences of the Commission, facilitate the implementation of its policy recommendations. This tool kit will support policymakers in proposing reforms and, once implemented, in measuring their results.