CLEC-About Us

CORE VALUES

CLEC's mission is founded in the following beliefs:

We believe in the value and dignity of all people, and that every individual deserves respect and fundamental rights. We believe that all people have the capacity to learn and to participate in activities for improving democracy and social harmony. We believe that the rule of law and good governance are the most important principals to promoting development and eradicating poverty.

Vision

Cambodian people live with the rule of law, in peace and social harmony.

Mission

CLEC promotes the Rule of Law, Justice and Democracy by supporting the development of appropriate institutions of justice, enhancing public knowledge of and encouraging participation in governance and the legal system, and advocating for good governance to achieve justice, peace and social harmony for all Cambodians.

HISTORY

The Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) was created in 1996 as legal resource center, promoting the rule of law, justice and democracy in Cambodia. From 1996 to 2001, CLEC operated as an arm of the University of San Francisco School of Law, funded by USAID. In December 2001, CLEC became a locally registered NGO.

Since its establishment, CLEC has taught over five thousand Cambodians in different subjects of law through its "certificate in law" program. CLEC has also produced a legal text-book series, which represents some of the only Cambodian legal texts on a wide range of subjects.

CLEC focuses on projects that combine legal education, legal empowerment and advocacy. Its trainings are designed for a wide range of target groups, including local communities, NGOs and government officials. CLEC has been involved in advocacy on a number of significant law reform issues, including: the 2001 Land Law, the sub-decree on indigenous communal land titling, establishment of the Arbitration Council, the election dispute resolution process, the draft Peaceful Assembly Law, and commentary and review of numerous pieces of legislation. Since 2004, CLEC has also embarked on a major project of high-impact public interest legal advocacy, particularly in the areas of land and natural resources.

CLEC is indebted to the University of San Francisco School of Law (USF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for their support over the early years (1996-2001). Since that time, the Center survived because of support from other donors, including The Asia Foundation (TAF-USA), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA-Canada), Forum Syd (Sweden), New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID), Open Society Institute Development Foundation (OSI/DEV), International Labor Organization (ILO), Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), World Bank (WB), Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED; Church Development Service - An Association of the Protestant Church of Germany), National Endowment for Democracy (NED) through International Republican Institute (IRI) and the United States Agency for International Development through East-West Management Institute (USAID/EWMI) and the American Bar Association (ABA).

CLEC's Programs

1- Land and Natural Resources Program (LNRP); with two main projects under it - Public Interest Legal Advocacy Project (PILAP) and Land and Natural Resources Law Project (LNRLP)

2- Labor Program (LP)

3- Access to Justice Program (AJP)

4- Good Governance Program(GGP)