Practitioner's Insights – The Importance of Strategic Litigation to Fight Human Trafficking and (Labour) Exploitation

This article calls for an increased use of strategic litigation in the anti-trafficking field to ensure long-lasting systemic reforms. While generally, the prosecution of human trafficking or related severe forms of labour exploitation, like forced labour, is quite challenging and prosecutions and convictions lag seriously behind, it is argued that strategic litigation, meaning continuing legal action, aimed at achieving rights-related changes in law, policy, practice, and/or public awareness, can help to ensure that justice is delivered to victims, as several landmark cases also show. Efforts to counter human trafficking through strategic litigation by NGOs remain in their infancy, among others as they are resource-intensive and require access to experienced lawyers in high level courts. The author discusses some examples and dilemmas and identifies needs for NGOs to use strategic litigation more often as an effective tool to effectuate systemic change.

What is strategic litigation?

This presentation is an introduction to strategic litigation for public health professionals. It will review the opportunities offered by legal action on environmental issues, with examples from past successes. It will consider opportunities in Europe for legal action in both national courts and in international courts and tribunals. Procedural issues affecting the choice of forum will be discussed, such as ‘standing' (the right to initiate a legal action or participate in the proceedings), admissible evidence, the possible orders available if the case is successful, and the costs and risks involved. What if we don't win? Was it still worth it? Broader public engagement and advocacy opportunities will be noted.

Conceptualising strategic litigation

This article conceptualises the term “strategic litigation” in order to provide for a definition of it. Strategic litigation is a tool increasingly used in Europe by individuals and organisations to attain different objectives. Next to that, there is increasing academic attention for the topic. Nevertheless, the exact definition of “strategic litigation” remains unclear. Therefore, this article uses the research method of conceptualisation as well as a database research and additional literature to provide for a definition. It looks firstly at the background concept, involving the range of meanings associated with the term “strategic litigation”, after which a systematised concept is formed. Thereby, use is made of the “necessary and sufficient conditions” (NSC) approach, to develop the conditions necessary and/or sufficient for a case to fit within the category of strategic litigation. Moreover, the external conceptual relations of the term are explored.

Rettspolitisk mobilisering og strategisk sakførsel mot isolasjon i norske fengsler

Solitary confinement in prison and police detention has been a widespread criminal policy and human rights problem in the Scandinavian countries for decades. However, in recent years, there has been a significant legal mobilization in Norway whereby lawyers individually and collectively have challenged solitary confinement in the courts. This use of strategic litigation has been directed towards solitary confinement in police custody, remand and during imprisonment. Based on qualitative interviews and documents, we analyze the organizational and legal strategy behind this legal mobilization, along with its effects and preconditions. We find that strategic litigation by lawyers has played an important role in the struggle against solitary confinement in Norway, but that it has benefited from – and played in tandem with – a legal and political opportunity structure consisting of national as well as international actors, processes, and legal frameworks. These findings raise the question of whether lawyers and civil society can contribute in similar ways in the other Scandinavian countries.

PAIA Through the Courts: Case Law and Important Developments in Litigation 2005-2009

This paper overviews PAIA litigation from start 2005 to end 2009 in South Africa and to point out some trends in that access to information litigation, both doctrinal and those of strategic litigation. The conclusion considers the efficacy of the proposed Open Democracy Charter in the light of the preceding discussion of PAIA through the courts.

Zugang zu Recht

'Access to law' examines both personal and substantial conditions of access to the different phases of law creation and its legislative, executive and judicial manifestations. These conditions also include actual authority structures which affect threats to freedom and equality. The conference volume addresses access to legal and extrajudicial knowledge, private influence on legislation, the relationship between courts and legislatures, and access to the government and its offices. The volume discloses strategic litigation approaches and state actors’ attempts to escape from legal scrutiny.