Litigation
Justice Initiative lawyers have represented scores of individuals and groups before domestic and international human rights courts and tribunals around the world. These cases seek not only to vindicate individual claims, but to establish and strengthen the law’s protection for all.
Open Society Justice Initiative et al. v. Donald J. Trump et al.
The Open Society Justice Initiative and four law professors have filed a complaint against the U.S. government over a Trump administration executive order authorizing draconian economic sanctions and severe civil and criminal penalties for those who support the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Last update: April 30, 2021Swedish Criminal Investigation of Chemical Weapons Attacks In Syria
On April 19, 2021, the Open Society Justice Initiative joined survivors of chemical weapons attacks in Syria, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), Syrian Archive, and Civil Rights Defenders in filing a criminal complaint with Swedish War Crimes Commission within the Swedish Police Authority.
Last update: April 19, 2021Open Society Justice Initiative v. U.S. Department of Defense et al. and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al.
The Open Society Justice Initiative seeks disclosure of records concerning the timing and substance of the U.S. government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last update: March 26, 2021Tenants of Mjølnerparken v. Danish Ministry of Transport and Housing
Twelve Copenhagen residents have filed a lawsuit against the Danish government seeking a declaration that measures under the country’s so-called Ghetto Package are unlawful under EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Last update: March 08, 2021French Criminal Investigation of Chemical Weapons Attacks In Syria
On March 1, 2021, the Justice Initiative joined Syrian survivors of chemical weapons attacks, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), and Syrian Archive in seeking a French criminal investigation for the August 2013 chemical weapons attacks on the city of Douma and on Eastern Ghouta.
Last update: March 01, 2021Open Society Justice Initiative v. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) et al
The Justice Initiative seeks the public release by U.S. government agencies of all documents related to the brutal murder in Istanbul of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian dissident writer and editor, and a U.S. permanent resident.
Last update: February 17, 2021Wa Baile v. Switzerland
Mohamed Wa Baile claims to have been subjected to ethnic profiling in 2015, when he was stopped by police officers in a train station in Zurich and told to identify himself. In 2018, Wa Baile lodged an application for the matter to be heard by European Court of Human Rights.
Last update: January 21, 2021Zhao v. Netherlands
In the UN Human Rights Committee's first ever decision on the right of children to acquire nationality, it determined that by registering a child as “nationality unknown”, Dutch authorities violated his right to international protection and to seek a nationality.
Last update: December 29, 2020