U4: Using Legal Empowerment to Curb Corruption and Advance Accountability

Legal empowerment refers to the use of laws and rights to increase relatively powerless populations’ control over their lives. A growing field, it overlaps with social accountability but emphasises laws and rights. Legal empowerment can help curb corruption and promote accountability in education, health, budgeting, formal and informal justice systems, and democratic governance. Development agencies, governments, and civil society should take account of the many ways in which legal empowerment can bolster anti-corruption efforts.