Challenges
Building legal resilience
Roots2Justice has consulted grassroots activists to identify a full range of thematic areas aimed at tackling corporate abuse, climate change and environmental injustice, all of which have informed the programme of our Best Practice Forum. Our Best Practice Forum will accelerate the transfer of legal knowledge and respond to four of the main areas of support where legal resilience building has been identified as a need:
1. Lack of access to international/regional legal protection frameworks
International and regional systems for the protection, monitoring, and promotion of human rights have had a positive impact in the Global South but are difficult to access without legal support. Our Best Pratice Forum meets requests from activists for a platform where legal specialists can share information and applied knowledge about how to successfully access and engage with the new wave of international human rights and environmental protection mechanisms applicable to corporate abuse and malpractice.
2. Addressing the implementation gap
The focus group discussions groups held with activists from Latin America and Asia revealed a lack of trust in the enforcement of international and national judgements by local legal systems and national governments. Through our Best Practice Forum and Resource Hub, Roots to Justice will share best practice and legal strategies including; seeking interim measures abroad, freezing assets, strategic litigation and coordinated legal interventions. These will unleash the potential for lasting systemic change.
3. Increasing access to coordinated pro bono support
While a number of regional and international organisations support activists through advocacy training, there are currently no sustained channels of support from the international legal community to build the legal capacity of activists and share legal resources and experience.
Consultation with activists in Latin America and Asia revealed that support networks are essential to their legal protection, safety and capacity building. Roots to Justice will build a supportive ecosystem through peer-to-peer mentoring and collaborative capacity building. This approach is designed to embed sustained holistic support to activists, as opposed to one-off capacity building and training programmes.
4. A targeted approach to legal capacity building
During our initial consultation, activists told us that legal capacity building is often too technical, irrelevant to their context and lacks focus on the practical. Roots to Justice will tailor our support to the local challenges faced by activists and work closely with them to identify the legal resources, networks and strategies they need to achieve their goals within their specific contexts. We will also use ongoing consultations with grassroots rights activists across Latin America, Africa and Asia to ensure that our approach and methodologies remain effective and relevant to local realities.
In Defence of Our Lands
After being criminalised, attacked and displaced, environmental and Indigenous activists in Latin America fight to enforce their land rights against corporations and the governments which support them.