The HRL Foundation - Private foundation

Why a Human Rights Litigation Foundation? The world is currently facing a global human rights crisis and is confronted with tremendous challenges. Human Rights violations and abuses are on the rise in every region of the world. Let us also not forget the dangerous rise of populist leaders in the US and in Europe, which constitutes a serious threat to Human Rights. In these critical times, we believe it is of paramount importance to reaffirm the fundamental principals contained in international and regional Human Rights law and to defend them vigorously. Victims of gross Human Rights violations are mostly vulnerable groups of people that are confronted with multiple barriers in the access to justice (lack of financial means, lack of expertise, impunity, political pressures…). In practice, these barriers render this fundamental right illusory. Furthermore, gross Human Rights violations are often due to structural problems within States, engendering a high number of actual as well as potential victims. However, Human Rights litigation is currently mainly individual and no effective strategic litigation is undertaken to address those structural deficiencies. Actions carried out by the Foundation will therefore be guided by the following main objectives: 1) Promote a real and effective access to justice for the most vulnerable people – whether due to their personal status or to the particular situation they are facing – that are victims of gross Human Rights violations, by overcoming the existing barriers; 2) Promote Human Rights through strategic litigation, which will allow to address Human Rights violations caused by structural deficiencies and have an impact not just on one but on all individuals placed in a similar situation. With this in mind, the Human Rights Litigation Foundation was established on 31st of January 2017 as a non-profit organisation entirely dedicated to the promotion of strategic litigation in the area of human rights.