Public Interest Litigation: An International Perspective
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Description
This chapter provides an international perspective on public interest litigation by looking at the work of a sampling of Ford Foundation grantees that use public interest litigation in a number of ways to improve conditions for disadvantaged groups, such as the poor, women, and religious and ethnic minorities. Litigation can help to reform existing laws that hinder or prevent members of these groups from participating fully and fairly in society. It can enforce rights that existing laws guarantee, but are not followed in practice. Litigation can complement a broader political movement, or foster mobilization and encourage alliances that then produce political action. Furthermore, litigation can help change attitudes toward the law and create a culture in which government and private entities respect and enforce human rights values. The Foundation first supported groups undertaking public interest litigation in the United States during the 1960s. In the following decades, the Foundation increased the range of its geographic commitment, and grantees now undertake litigation in many countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. These nongovernmental organizations address a broad range of social concerns—from job discrimination in China, to wrongful imprisonment in Peru, to violence against women in Poland. They use a variety of creative strategies and often work against great odds, nevertheless winning significant courtroom victories that seek to enforce human rights, to change entrenched practices and laws, and to encourage political consensus for social improvement. An earlier chapter of this volume focuses on public interest litigation in the United States. This chapter turns attention to the equally important work of the Foundation’s grantees in other parts of the world. The first part of the chapter provides an overview of public interest litigation, examining its goals, approaches, and structural adaptations in a global context. The second part highlights the specific litigation efforts of Ford grantees in Nigeria, India, and parts of the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
Source Publication
Many Roads to Justice: The Law-Related Work of Ford Foundation Grantees Around the World
Source Editors/Authors
Mary McClymont, Stephen Golub
Publication Date
2000
Recommended Citation
Hershkoff, Helen and McCutcheon, Aubrey, "Public Interest Litigation: An International Perspective" (2000). Faculty Chapters. 773.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/773
