In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), issues related to access to, use of and management of land appear to be the main sources of conflict. The province of Kongo-Central, the target of this study, is no exception. This study is part of the programme "Contributing to the objectives of sustainable development through the strengthening of access to justice in the DRC" implemented by Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) since 2017, in Kongo-Central. Within the framework of the Programme, ASF implements actions aimed at guaranteeing the population's holistic access to justice or to conflict resolution methods. Thus, the Programme, while accompanying the populations in the development of their power to act, intends to strengthen the justice mechanisms to which these populations have access in order to resolve their conflicts, whether these mechanisms come under the formal justice system or under community justice practices. The study has two objectives:  

1. Examine the effects of community conflict resolution practices on land disputes in the province of Central Kongo;  

2. Examine the effects of collaboration between community and judicial actors on the resolution of conflicts, as well as the opportunities, constraints and avenues for strengthening this collaboration.  

The report found that village chiefs and other local actors play an important role in resolving “everyday” land conflicts, while “customary” land conflicts proved to be more complex, which meant intervention by the ill-equipped judiciary system. In the end, it is not uncommon for the courts to send the parties back to back without a clear decision in these “customary” conflicts.