The Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC) is an independent Dutch non-profit organisation, which provides expertise to developing and transition countries engaged in legal and judicial reform. CILC was founded in the belief that a functioning, reliable legal system is a critical precondition for the political, economic and social well-being of a country’s population. CILC has extensive experience in providing capacity building to Ministries of Justice, High Judicial and/or Prosecutorial Councils, Supreme Courts, Judicial Training Institutions, Prosecutors’ Offices, Bar Associations, Public Defenders’ Offices and Enforcement Agencies, all in accordance with applicable international standards. Besides this, CILC has extensive experience in implementing rule of law programmes and projects in the field of academic cooperation, capacity building and access to justice through training and consultancy.

Mission

The Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC) promotes the rule of law by initiating and implementing international legal cooperation projects. They bring together legal experts from different countries to work out solutions for a variety of challenges within developing legal systems. They are based in The Hague and their current work spans dozens of countries in development and in transition in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

History

CILC was founded in 1985 at the initiative of the Dutch Government to implement a multi-annual program for judicial cooperation with Indonesia. Following the breakdown of the communist regimes, given the immediate need for expertise in building up rule of law, CILC started to also support the legal reforms in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Since then, CILC has developed into a project organisation operating worldwide in international legal cooperation and rule of law capacity building.