This area provides legal assistance to the Institute of the Commons’ human rights programs, particularly environmental rights and the rights of indigenous peoples with special attention paid to cases of highly vulnerable peoples living in voluntary isolation. The assistance is aimed at building synergies through a multidisciplinary approach to issues in the Amazon, particularly in relation to indigenous peoples. It supports programs through the development of multidisciplinary knowledge of environmental law, the national environmental management system, the legal framework and customary law with respect to activities such as subsistence fishing and use of forest products. It carries out research projects with thesis candidates with the goal that they can eventually implement their thesis.

The area also provides assistance to native communities in the process of recognition, titling or expansion, as well training native communities and their federations through workshops, meetings and onsite visits. In some cases, the IBC monitors the administrative steps for titling or expansion of territories, providing support with mechanisms used in titling ordering processes, such as georeferenced maps and geographic databases on natural resources and their use in communal territories. To strengthen advocacy efforts, the area works closely with allied institutions, such as CEDIA and DAR, to design legal strategies that facilitate processes for recognizing the territorial rights of indigenous peoples.

In relation to extractive industries (logging, hydrocarbons and mining) that affect Amazonian indigenous peoples, the area provides legal assistance to native communities and their respective federations with which it has agreements in the zones where the institution works. It provides information and offers training to strengthen organizations and their members concerning rights, the legal framework, alternatives, possible socio-environmental impacts and other issues involving the effect these industries may have on the indigenous economy.

On the issue of hydrocarbons, the area offers legal assistance to Cacataibo native communities, as well as Native Federation of Cacataibo Communities (FENACOCA), concerning the impact of Lot 107. The work involves gathering relevant information and a review of the environmental impact study to orient and advise Cacataibo communities. The area also accompanies indigenous federations in the public hearings held to present environmental impact studies and has presented documents calling for measures to be taken to protect the lives of Cacataibo indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation. In August 2006, FENACOCA asked the Institute of the Commons and the Center for International Law (CIEL) to prepare and present protection measures in favor of isolated Cacataibo indigenous people living in the Cordillera Azul, as well as neighboring native communities.

Through the Legal and Advocacy Area, the institute has established alliances with different civil society institutions working on indigenous rights and the environment. It participates in networks and spaces for exchanging information, as well as advocating before the state and society in general. The working groups that the IBC belongs to focus on the issues of titling, natural resource management, hydrocarbons and indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation. These spaces offer an opportunity for analysis of the social, political and legal context with respect to issues of common interest and to share opinions and relevant information on possible norms. The work of these groups have led to the development of strategies to improve the national legal framework related to the issues mentioned above, as well as the preparation of normative proposals and advocacy strategies before Congress, public agencies and the general public.
The IBC participates in the following working groups: Indigenous Peoples Working Group in the National Human Rights Coordinating Committee (GTPI-CNDH), Working Group on Isolated Indigenous People (GTPIA), and the Community Forest Management Group (MFC), with a focus on titling. It also takes part in the Roundtable on Hydrocarbons and Roundtable on Natural Protected Areas and Hydrocarbons.

In an effort to strengthen alliances around common issues and create more opportunities for advocacy, the Institute of the Commons coordinates with state agencies such as COFOPRI, Human Rights Ombudsman’s office, INDEPA, INRENA and the Ministry of Agriculture, with multilateral agencies, such as the ILO and UN Office of the High Commission of Human Rights, and non-governmental organizations, such as the Association for the Conservation of Cutivireni (ACPC), Amazonian Center for Anthropology and Practical Application (CAAAP), Center of the Development of Amazonian Indigenous People (CEDIA), Environmental Law and Natural Resources (DAR), Racimos de Ungurahui and the Peruvian Environmental Law Society. At the international level, it coordinates with the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the World Resources Institute (WRI).