Legal Action Worldwide (LAW)

Legal Action Worldwide provides high quality, innovative legal advice and representation on human rights violations in conflict-affected areas. LAW is a unique non-profit network and think tank of human rights lawyers who provide creative legal assistance to individuals and communities who have suffered from human rights violations and abuses in fragile and conflict-affected areas. These people are those who often have the greatest need for protection and assistance but are also those who have the least access to legal resources. Most of the time, they do not know that legal assistance exists and often do not know what their options are for legal redress. Since its establishment, LAW has focused on conflict-affected and fragile countries across South Asia, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. LAW focuses on key issues in these contexts, including sexual and gender-based violence and accountability of security forces. LAW’s activities are centred around four pillars: Strategic Casework: civil litigation, supporting criminal prosecutions, UN complaints or OECD complaints. Advocacy and Research: including high-level panels and production of reports with practical and implementable recommendations. Legal Assistance and Empowerment: to increase rights awareness and knowledge of legal avenues for redress. Legal Think Tank for Creative Lawyering: for innovative legal thinking and creating a cadre of human rights champions in conflict-affected areas. LAW’S BACKGROUND LAW was founded in July 2013 following three expert roundtables with UN agencies, leading human rights and legal NGOs, law firms and academics and consultations with over 100 people from around the world. This was supported by an in-depth mapping and scoping exercise to review what legal work was being undertaken by organisations on the ground in fragile and conflict affected areas. More than one year of research identified that there was a need for a non-profit organisation which focused on creative avenues for legal redress in fragile and conflict affected areas. It was envisaged that such an organisation would work on the ground, placing national lawyers and partners in the driving seat and at the same time, linking them to highly innovative lawyers in non-conflict areas. Antonia Mulvey is the founder of Legal Action Worldwide.