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.
APDHE v. Obiang Family
This case before a Spanish court involves massive sums of money allegedly diverted by the President of Equatorial Guinea to buy property in Spain and the Canary Islands for his family.
Last update: September 07, 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, 2020Etxebarria v. Spain
A challenge to Spain’s anti-terrorism detention regulations argues that holding two suspects incommunicado without independent legal and medical advice created conditions for abuse.
Last update: October 06, 2014Zeshan Muhammad v. Spain
Ethnic profiling by law enforcement officers continues to be a persistent and pervasive practice throughout Spain, particularly in the context of immigration control.
Last update: July 31, 2014Sanoma Uitgevers v. the Netherlands
When an editor refused to hand over photos taken by a journalist, Dutch police tried to close the magazine down. The Open Society Justice Initiative argued that the police had violated freedom of expression.
Last update: September 14, 2010Williams v. Spain
With Women’s Link Worldwide and SOS-Racismo Madrid, the Open Society Justice Initiative filed a complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee on behalf of Rosalind Williams regarding a case of racial profiling by a Spanish police officer.
Last update: August 12, 2009Dutch Caribbean Consultative Body v. Data Protection Authority
This case challenges the Dutch government’s attempt to create a database of all youths of Antillean descent.
Last update: March 11, 2009