The Promise and Pitfalls of Strategic Litigation and Critical Lawyering

The global, regional, and domestic human rights frameworks developed over the past century often serve as crucial safeguards and a last recourse for marginalized, persecuted, and attacked individuals worldwide.

However, strategic litigation has faced criticism for its perceived drawbacks, such as being slow, expensive, elitist, and disconnected from the concerns of the communities it aims to help. Success in strategic litigation requires a deeper understanding of these critiques and of the purpose of bringing forward human rights cases in current contexts.

To address these crucial questions, Dr. Susanne Baer delivered a keynote address to participants of the 2023 Strategic Human Rights Litigation Summer School, jointly organized by the Open Society Justice Initiative and Hertie School’s Executive Education. Speaking from her experience as a former constitutional court judge, Prof. Dr. Baer’s remarks offer candid and actionable insights on how to develop effective legal strategy and advocacy.

Susanne Baer, a German legal scholar and professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin, served as a Justice in the First Senate of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court from 2011 to 2023. Her research focuses on comparative constitutionalism and critical approaches to law and fundamental rights.