The International Consortium for Law and Development seeks to empower country nationals to design and implement projects for the transformation of law-making institutions through on-going, self-sustainable country-based 'learning processes' to (1) strengthen the legislative drafting and assessing capacity of the government, parliament, and civil society groups, especially those working with the poor and vulnerable usually excluded from the halls of power; and (2) to engage governments in making more transparent, accountable and participatory law-making institutions as an essential step in transforming their inherited socio-economic institutions that too often block countries' inhabitants from attaining increasingly productive employment opportunities and an improving quality of life.

The Need ICLAD Addresses

In most developing, transitional and post-conflict countries, inherited political, legal and socio-economic institutions result in wide-spread exclusion, poverty, vulnerability and instability. Increasingly, development practitioners have seen that to alleviate these problems requires transparency, accountability and civic participation in decision making processes. Good governance does not arise on its own. Rather, good governance results from effective and implementable laws.

Legislative drafters and other law makers need better theories and methodologies for using law to promote participatory law making processes, organized according to a problem-solving methodology. ICLAD aims to address this gap by developing and implementing projects to enable law makers to transform the institutions that perpetuate underdevelopment and poor governance.

ICLAD's focus on legislative drafting as a tool for promoting good governance and social change is unique, and constitutes an effective means of addressing the pressing social problems faced by developing, transitional and post-conflict countries.