Legal work

IHRDA’s primary work is the provision of pro bono legal counsel to victims of human rights violations. In our litigation mandate, we represent victims of human rights violations in cases before national courts and African regional human rights instances.

By instituting cases on behalf of victims of human rights violations, we aim to increase the application and enforcement of African human rights instruments in order to bring effective remedies to these victims.

We maintain a focus on refugee, minority rights, the rights of children and economic and social rights. We however continue to undertake litigation on diverse issues such as the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination.

Read more about our:

• Financial support for litigants under the Legal Defence Fund.
• Our publications are inspired and informed by our legal work.
• Our workshops are designed to build capacities of human rights defenders in filing cases.
• The African Human Rights Caselaw Analyser offers unrivalled access to African human rights caselaw, with phenomenal ease of research and personal accounts to save and annotate your research.
• African Commission decisions in Portuguese: IHRDA is spearheading translation of African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights decisions in Portuguese.