STARLIGHT – Strategic Litigation for Rights in Europe (2022-2024)

The Hertie School and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) have joined forces to launch a new project, Strategic Litigation for Rights in Europe: Building Knowledge, Skills and Connections for Legal Practitioners to Use the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (STARLIGHT). STARLIGHT will facilitate more effective use of a powerful yet underused tool to protect fundamental rights in the European Union: the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR).

STARLIGHT will provide legal practitioners in the European Union (EU) with the skills and knowledge to apply the CFR in strategic litigation. Over a period of 12 months, participants in this capacity-building programme will benefit from seminars, workshops, legal clinics and networking opportunities in varying formats to accomplish two main goals:

• applying the CFR and other EU laws in three thematic areas: the rule of law, asylum/migration and criminal justice;

• acquiring crucial skills to engage in strategic litigation at EU level, develop EU jurisprudence and promote systemic and social changes in their respective countries.

The programme will focus on training practitioners from the following target countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

The programme will combine online learning with an in-person training workshop. It will run once in 2023 and again in 2024.

Activities:

Year 2

• Closing webinar on 12 September 2024
• László Detre on how the Charter can be used to protect the Rule of Law through strategic litigation:

• Márta Pardavi and Kersty McCourt share why advocacy is so important and what good legal advocacy for fundamental rights looks like:

• STARLIGHT unlocks the power of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights for 120 human rights lawyers.
• Legal Clinics Arguments:
  • Asylum and Migration
  • Criminal Justice
  • Rule of Law and Civic Space
• STARLIGHT programme lead spotlight series:
  • László Detre (HHC) on how a piece of EU law that seems very technical can be used to open the doors to litigate for fundamental rights using the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
  • Galina Cornelisse on how actions for damages can be used to protect fundamental rights by holding Frontex accountable for violations of the Charter of Fundamental Rights;
  • John Morijn on why you should think of the Charter of Fundamental Rights as a remora fish.
• Launch webinar: The Power of Strategic Litigation in the EU on 13/10/2023
  • watch here

Year 1

• Listen to what participants Judit, Kiran and Noemie had to say about their legal case:

• Listen to participants Stefan and Karolina talk about their STARLIGHT experience:

• Legal Clinics Arguments:
  • Asylum and Migration
  • Criminal Justice
  • Rule of Law and Civic Space
• STARLIGHT programme empowers human rights lawyers to drive positive change
• Launch webinar: The Power of Strategic Litigation in the EU on 20/1/2023

This project is funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme of the European Union.