CLEC was created in 1996 as a school of law of the University of San Francisco. Localized in 2001 and recognized by the Ministry of Interior, CLEC continued as a legal resource center, promoting the rule of law, justice, and democracy in Cambodia. CLEC legal empowerment activities combine legal awareness, training, legal aid services and advocacy supports. Its training is designed for a wide range of target groups including local communities and NGOs. CLEC has been involved in advocacy activities regarding a number of significant legal reform issues including the 2001 Land Law, the sub-decree on indigenous communal land titling, the establishment of the Arbitration Council, the election dispute resolution process, the drafting of the Peaceful Assembly Law, and commentary and review of numerous pieces of legislation. Since 2004, CLEC has embarked on high impact/public interest legal advocacy project (PILAP), particularly in the areas of land and natural resources. Legal representation, legal defense and consultation are becoming even more crucial as tools to support legal empowerment both in the improvement and assertion of the rights of communities and in law and policy development and enforcement. The PILAP has greatly impacted into all CLEC programs on Land and Natural Resource, Access to Justice, Labor and Good Governance, and it has become the main part of CLEC’s working approach to empower the vulnerable groups/communities to hold the governmental authorities accountable through the Cambodian legal and judicial system. CLEC has been noted for its conciliation and mediation to outstanding land and natural resource disputes using all forms of multilateral dialogues/meetings called “Peace Table”. More than 30 cases were solved through this. For the new strategies from 2019, CLEC narrows down its focus to build legal empowerment to vulnerable communities affected by Land Natural Resources issues for access to justice and inclusive development.
