Strategic Litigation for Social Justice: Lessons Learned

What has been the impact globally of strategic litigation on social justice? In what circumstances can it form part of an effective strategy to drive social, political and legal reform?

Drawing on the Open Society Justice Initiative’s multi-year inquiry into strategic human rights litigation, this meeting challenges assumptions about what such litigation actually means for human rights victims, litigators, judges, government officials, activists and other actors.

Panellists draw on the findings from OSJI’s research which covered four themes - Roma school desegregation, indigenous peoples’ land rights, equal access to quality education and torture in custody – and involved hundreds of interviews in 11 countries.

The discussion examines lessons learned from this research as well as from practice, including OSJI’s ten years of litigation experience including in several landmark cases. The meeting brings together a broad group of interested actors, including litigators, civil society organisations, academic experts and donors.

This event is hosted in collaboration with Open Society Foundations.