Building Knowledge and Power
Explore how we help communities build knowledge and power in their fight against injustice
Building long-lasting change
Strategic litigation can be a powerful tool in the fight for racial, social, and economic justice. It can help bring about change in regulation, law, policy, or practice.
Yet all too often, marginalised communities are unable to take advantage of the full potential of litigation for their causes and campaigns. Access to legal knowledge is often mediated by lawyers or legal advisors, which can perpetuate unequal relationships between communities seeking justice and the legal system.
Photo: Community Visions for Liberation event, Berlin / Mohamed Badarne
Communities should be able to make informed choices about how they want to incorporate strategic litigation in their campaigns for change. At Systemic Justice, we’re helping to build the knowledge and power of communities resisting injustice by:
- Developing resources on strategic litigation;
- Delivering workshops and trainings;
- Hosting drop-in calls to address communities’ questions.
The free resources below are for groups and organisations who are considering whether legal action is for them, and who wish to learn more about litigation, on their own terms. The topics and formats of the resources we’ve developed are directly informed by the needs of the organisations, movements, and collectives we work with.
Photo: Reclaiming Climate Justice Summit workshop / Steven Pieternella
Resources
Strategic litigation – A guide for legal action
Learn about the essential components of strategic litigation through real world examples.
Words for justice: A glossary of essential legal terms
Access our jargon-busting glossary of legal terms.
How can we use the courts: A conversation starter
Use our worksheet with six simple questions that will take you from your dream vision to actionable steps towards a litigation strategy.
Other key areas of our work
Community-driven litigation
Systemic Justice works with an intersectional, community-driven approach to strategic litigation. Too often, litigation is shaped by lawyers or institutions rather than by the people most affected, reinforcing unequal power dynamics and overlooking the lived experiences and priorities of marginalised communities. Our model reverses this dynamic: we litigate with our partners, not for them.
Community of Practice
There is a growing desire within the legal field to take a more community-focused approach in litigation work. To support this change, we are facilitating a Community of Practice – a participatory space where litigators, legal practitioners, and litigating organisations can come together for mutual learning, unlearning, and shared reflection.