Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

NOTE 5.3
Strengthening Legal Frameworks in the Forest Sector
The law is a powerful tool for shaping forest sector
governance. Laws can create institutions and
define institutional powers and responsibilities.
Laws can set the bounds of acceptable behavior and set the
punishment for crossing those bounds. Laws can change
the allocation of money among government programs,
and shift control over forest resources between central and
local government and between government and other
actors. Laws can define and strengthen property interests.
Law can be part of the healing process that follows years of
conflict (see box 5.12). In short, law plays a role in every
forest governance issue (see chapter 5 for a definition of
governance).
The legal framework applicable to forests has at least two
areas that the World Bank may help to strengthen. The first,
and most obvious, is the law itself—usually statutes and regulations—and
the instruments created to operate under the
law, for example, contracts. The second is the technical
capacity to work within the legal system. This includes the
legal knowledge of forest officers and the forest-related
knowledge of legislators, prosecutors, judges, and others
who help shape and implement forest laws. It also includes
the capacity of citizens to understand and work under the
law. Making communities, enterprises, and civil society
effective users of law and active participants in its development
boosts the rule of law and amplifies the benefits of
improving the laws.
The usual focus of World Bank and donor legal framework
projects is on the first of these areas, aiming to reform
and strengthen the law. In the process, however, the projects
also can strengthen capacity. For example, compiling an
accurate set of the existing forest law is a first step toward
writing new law, but the compilation process itself can also
strengthen implementation of the present law. Public vetting
of drafts of new laws is a way to improve the substance
of reforms. It also gives officials hands-on training in dealing
with the public, and gives stakeholders practical experience
in policy making.
Strengthening forest legal frameworks typically requires
legal advisers, but the task calls for skills that go beyond
knowledge of the law. Lawyers working in concert with
foresters, economists, policy experts, government officials,
and stakeholders can build frameworks that promote both
sustainable development and the rule of law.
OPERATIONAL ASPECTS
The ultimate goal of designing legal frameworks is to
ensure the creation of responsive structures that are
capable of adapting to changing needs and conditions.
Writing a law that works is no easy task, and the stakes
are high. A really bad effort can leave the country with a
law that looks impressive but is of little practical use and
may promote cynicism about government and dampen
commitment to the rule of law. A really good effort can
set the stage for more effective forest administration.
More important, it can improve the transparency of forest
governance, motivate under-represented stakeholders
to get involved in forest policy, and encourage respect for
the law.
Working with the law
Writing forest laws. A good way to start is to consult two
recent references on writing forest law. One, from the World
Bank in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), is Forest Law and Sustainable Development:
Addressing Contemporary Challenges Through Legal Reform
(Christy, Di Leva, and Lindsay 2007). It is a comprehensive
monograph on drafting forest law, with practical knowledge
from experienced forest law drafters. Annex 5.3A to this
note contains an outline of the monograph’s contents that
173