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Model Emergency Housing Legislation: Protecting the Right to Housing during COVID-19
This comprehensive model emergency legislation, developed by the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Open Society Initiative for Europe, The Shift, and a coalition of human rights groups, consists of legal provisions that governments can use to protect the right to housing during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis.
Protecting the Right to Housing During the COVID-19 Crisis
This briefing paper highlights the patchwork approach that States across the world have taken in order to protect the right to housing during the COVID-19 crisis, and examines the need for more comprehensive emergency legislation to prevent evictions during a global pandemic.
Who Polices the Police? The Role of Independent Agencies in Criminal Investigations
This publication explores the efforts of independent investigative agencies to investigate and prosecute allegations of serious crimes against police and other state agents.
Universal Jurisdiction in Sweden: Victims of Syria’s Chemical Weapons Attacks Demand Justice
This briefing paper explains the criminal complaints filed in Sweden on April 19, 2021, against the Syrian government for chemical weapons attacks in Al-Ghouta and Khan Shaykhun and the broader campaign for criminal accountability for chemical weapons use in Syria.
Challenging Ethnic Profiling in Europe: A Guide for Campaigners and Organizers
This guide provides an international overview of how to challenge and end ethnic profiling, distilling key lessons and strategic insights learned from over a decade of work on the ground.
2021 Global Human Rights Litigation Report
Summaries of over 60 strategic litigation rulings in cases undertaken by the Open Society Justice Initiative to defend and strengthen human rights around the world.
Implementing Human Rights Decisions: Reflections, Successes, and New Directions
This publication takes stock of the growth and change in the field of human rights implementation, and how to ensure legal decisions can be realized.
European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria
This legal briefing paper provides information to assist practitioners in advocating and litigating for the repatriation of children who are detained in northeast Syria and whose parents are European nationals possibly affiliated with ISIS.
Universal Jurisdiction Law and Practice in England and Wales
The principle of universal jurisdiction allows national courts to investigate and prosecute international crimes committed on foreign territory by foreign nationals. This briefing paper provides an overview of the legal framework in England and Wales on universal jurisdiction and was produced in partnership with TRIAL International and REDRESS.
2020–2021 International Criminal Court Prosecutor Election Process: Insights and Recommendations for Future Elections
Building on the Justice Initiative’s advocacy efforts to improve election and nomination procedures throughout the International Criminal Court, and drawing on a range of interviews conducted with individuals engaged in the process, this paper reflects on the prosecutor’s election and offers guidance on how it can be improved.
Denmark’s Discriminatory “Ghetto Package”: Demographic Reports on Nøjsomhed-Sydvej, Helsingor, and Evicted Households
Reports by the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research at Aarhus University analyze demographic trends in Nøjsomhed-Sydvejand, a neighborhood in Denmark designated as a "ghetto" under the government's controversial "Ghetto Package," and three comparator areas, as well as the demographics of 96 forcibly-evicted households in Nøjsomhed-Sydvejand.
From Spectators to Champions: How Supportive States Can Promote Cooperation with the International Criminal Court through Multilateral Bodies
This briefing paper offers recommendations as to how the ICC should approach cooperation challenges, as well as how states that are supportive of its work could leverage multilateral bodies’ support to influence reluctant governments to cooperate with the ICC.
Contesting Neutrality Dress Codes in Europe
This briefing paper aims to support Muslim women, campaigners, litigators, and other stakeholders challenging discriminatory and exclusionary religious dress bans by deconstructing the concept of neutrality and analyzing its treatment by various courts.
UN Entities’ Powers to Establish Administrative Reparations Programs
This briefing paper provides an overview of the powers of various UN entities to establish administrative reparations programs for gross violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international humanitarian law and/or international crimes, and their past practice on this subject.
Model Indictment for the Crime of Aggression Committed against Ukraine
This model indictment prepared by the Justice Initiative demonstrates that building a solid case against Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior leaders for the crime of aggression is feasible. In addition to Putin, it names six Russian officials involved in the initiation, planning, preparation, and execution of acts of aggression against Ukraine starting on February 24, 2022.
Universal Jurisdiction Law and Practice in Belgium
The principle of universal jurisdiction allows national courts to investigate and prosecute international crimes committed on foreign territory by foreign nationals. This briefing paper, available in English and French, provides an overview of the legal framework in Belgium on universal jurisdiction and was produced in partnership with TRIAL International.
Universal Jurisdiction Law and Practice in the United States
The principle of universal jurisdiction allows national courts to investigate and prosecute international crimes committed on foreign territory by foreign nationals. This briefing paper provides an overview of the legal framework in the United States on universal jurisdiction and was produced in partnership with TRIAL International, the Center for Justice & Accountability, and Civitas Maxima.
When Pretrial Justice Fails
This factsheet aims to show why pre-trial justice is an important factor to consider in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and recommends that more data be taken into account when assessing progress towards access to justice for all.
Security for Costs Orders in the Bahamas as a Barrier to Access to Justice in Public Interest Litigation
This briefing paper provides an overview of the international and regional framework relevant to the consideration of applications for security for costs in environmental and other public interest judicial review challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Immunities and a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine
This briefing paper provides a non-exhaustive overview of the application of immunities to prosecutions for the crime of aggression, particularly to the Russian head of state, head of government, and minister of foreign affairs, before a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.