Making the Law Work for Everyone
The Open Society Justice Initiative uses the law to promote and defend justice and human rights.
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Syrians Seek UN Rights Ruling against Russia for 2019 Hospital Attacks
A legal complaint seeks justice for Syrian victims of attacks by the Russian air force, and seeks to reinforce protections for health care facilities in war-time.
A Legal Victory in the Drive to End Racist Police Tactics Ethnic Profiling
Mohamad Wa Baile, a Swiss citizen, complained to the European Court of Human Rights that he had been subjected to a discriminatory stop by police in Switzerland. The court ruled in his favor, marking a step forward in the drive to eliminate racially-biased policing in Europe.
Q&A: Bringing a Case Before the International Court of Justice for the Rights of Afghan Women and Girls
This paper considers 21 questions around the feasibility of bringing a complaint at the International Court of Justice against Afghanistan's Taliban for egregious and prevalent violations of women’s and girls’ rights.
Justice Initiative Urges Expansive Rights Framework for Climate Displacement
As the Inter-American Court of Human Rights develops an Advisory Opinion on the climate emergency that will shape policy across the region, the Justice Initiative has submitted recommendations focused on rights and human mobility.
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Since 2003, Justice Initiative lawyers have represented scores of individuals before domestic and international courts, in cases that have sought not only to vindicate individual claims, but to establish and strengthen the law’s protection for all.
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News
Joint Statement on French Investigation of Syria's President Assad for Chemical Weapons Attacks
Joint Statement by Syrian and international civil society organizations and victims’ associations in support of investigating Syria's President Bashar al-Assad for chemical weapons attacks.
Syrians Seek UN Rights Ruling against Russia for 2019 Hospital Attacks
A legal complaint seeks justice for Syrian victims of attacks by the Russian air force, and seeks to reinforce protections for health care facilities in war-time.
European Court of Human Rights Condemns Racist Policing
The European Court of Human Rights has found that police in the Swiss city of Zurich engaged in ethnic profiling, in an identity check stop carried out on Mohamed Wa Baile, a Swiss citizen, at the city’s’ train station in 2015.