Can Legal Pluralism Advance Human Rights? How International Development Actors Can Contribute

This article discusses how international development actors providing aid to the justice sector in legally plural contexts can support reforms to the normative framework for legal pluralism that contribute to advancing human rights. Based on the case of Mozambique, the article argues that reforms to the normative framework for legal pluralism should be grounded on empirical realities of legal pluralism and their human rights implications. The article suggests that international development actors can contribute to this end at the level of process. This can be done by financing empirical studies on legal pluralism and human rights, and by facilitating informed and participatory dialogue to define policies and legislation.