Between the 16th-18 th July 2025 Roots2Justice hosted a 3-day Best Practice Forum Asia-Pacific entitled: Sharing Strategies to Confront Corporate Abuse in the Mekong Region. The Forum took place in Bangkok and was jointly hosted with our local and international partners: the Community Resource Centre (CRC), the Business & Human Rights Law Group (BHRLG), the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), the Mekong Legal Network (MLN), the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), Earth Rights International and Maurice Blackburn Lawyers.

The Forum was attended by 32 grassroots lawyers and community leaders from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines and it was delivered in three languages Cambodian, Thai and English.

The participants were carefully selected on the basis of their legal needs, their ability to replicate and pass on knowledge within their communities and organisations and on the basis of their experience in working on cases including complex and emblematic cases.

The Forum created a safe and practical learning space for participants to learn from peers working in other contexts and jurisdictions and to share best practice and lessons learnt to help them strengthen grassroots legal approaches.

The Forum counted on the pro-bono participation of 18 legal experts from the Global South/North (Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, USA, Netherlands, UK and Australia). The key themes and topics of the Forum included: identifying where to initiate litigation proceedings, that is, considering whether to bring a case to a foreign or a local court; how to gather evidence that has probative value; how to identify pressure points; the importance of developing multiple legal strategies for success and the pros and cons of accessing litigation funding and how to secure litigation funding. On the third day of the Forum, participants were asked to take part in a moot court exercise. The exercise was based on a fictitious case involving environmental destruction and human rights violations related to the development of economic projects by powerful companies. The case drew from real events in the Mekong region. Participants were asked to assume the role of plaintiffs and defendants; including as members of affected communities and company representatives; and present arguments to a moot court.

The contributions of pro bono legal experts during the exercise offered participants a broad range of legal options and tools (judicial and non-judicial) available for them to consider when developing their legal strategies. The moot court exercise enabled participants to put into practice some of the learnings of discussions during the two first days of the Forum and offered fertile ground to test ideas as well as gaining new knowledge and strengthening confidence in developing their legal work. The moot court activity represented an opportunity for candidates to engage in a practical exercise which sought to build on the issues that were covered in the two previous days of the Forum.

The Forum acted as a partnership and network-builder for the grassroots lawyers and community leaders attending. It helped create links and synergies with local, national and international legal experts and provided an opportunity to explore collaborative actions and ways to maximize the impact of their legal approaches. The methodology we used for the sessions was mostly solution-oriented, interactive and participatory with contributions from foreign/local expert speakers and case studies of participants attending the Forum.

A password protected online Resource Hub of the Forum is currently accessible for participants so they can continue learning from some of the recorded sessions and discussions. The online Resource Hub will also enable participants to share and expand their knowledge within their organizations and the communities they support.

The full programme in English and the online Resource Hub can be found in the links below.

• 📄 Download the Programme

• 📝  Download Programme summary

• 🎥 Resource Hub