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On 10 March, the International Day of Women Judges, we celebrate the women shaping justice systems around the world. One of them is Domenica Ghidei Biidu – a long-time deputy judge in the Netherlands, former Human Rights Commissioner at the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, Vice Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, and a member of the Systemic Justice’s Supervisory Board.

It’s the 100th anniversary of Black History Month in the US. It’s also Black History Month in some European countries. As we think of the colossal gains made by the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the enduring racism that blights the lives of Black communities, I’d like to highlight the seminal case of Floyd and others v the City of New York.

Whenever we enter a new year, we tend to make resolutions, set new goals, and reassess our values – all in the pursuit of a fresh new start that can infuse our lives with a bit of hope and positivity. This year, and over the last two years or more, talking about hope has become a lot harder against a backdrop of a world being burnt to the ground by elites.   

When Saranel Benjamin stepped into the role of the Executive Director at Systemic Justice, she brought with her a lifetime of decolonial activism, shaped by the lived experience in South Africa’s apartheid, leadership roles at Mama Cash and Oxfam GB, and a deep belief in the power of communities to create systemic change. We sat down to talk about her vision for the future of Systemic Justice, what justice means to her, and what keeps her hopeful.

This year’s autumn retreat gave us the space to reconnect, meet each other in person, and come together during an important phase of transition at Systemic Justice. 

Susheela Math joined Systemic Justice in July 2025 as its new Head of Legal. In this article, Susheela discusses her own path and values, the driving force of her career and her experience of whistleblowing and racial justice strategic litigation and advocacy efforts across Europe.

Like many great ideas, the conceptualisation of Systemic Justice started on the back of a cocktail napkin. It was February 2020, and Jonathan and I had just parted ways for the evening with the participants of the Digital Freedom Fund’s third annual strategy meeting. We went to grab a drink at Victoria Bar on Potsdamer Strasse to plan for the coming days and generally catch up.

We held our first Community toolkit for change workshop on “Making the courts work for communities’ causes”, where we were joined by community leaders and supporters eager to explore how the courts can be leveraged in their campaigns for change.

These are some of the responses participants shared on what they were grateful for as they were leaving the Reclaiming Climate Justice Summit, which we had the pleasure of hosting by the Danish coast in the third week of October.

Money is an important topic: after all, our partners need to be able to engage in litigation work sustainably, and over a long period of time. In this blog post, we’re providing an overview of some of the questions we get asked most frequently when it comes to financing community-driven legal cases.