The Human Rights Law Network defends human rights by opposing violations, strengthening enforcement mechanisms, sensitising the public, and campaigning for constitutional and legal reform.
HRLN has developed effective and innovative solutions to achieve its aims and from 2001, has been building specialised initiatives around issues. Recognising the potential of effective partnerships, HRLN works closely with human rights and development organisations within and outside India . HRLN units in various states use the following strategies:
Legal Aid and Public Interest Litigation
The nationwide network offers quick response and pro bono expertise to those who have little or no access to the justice system. HRLN lawyers offer legal representation and advice to people who cannot afford legal representation. HRLN is part of the access to justice movement.
Over the past decade, the Network has made a critical transition from individual litigation in the lower courts to filing public interest petitions in the High Courts and in the Supreme Court. Our experience is that a decisive and professional intervention at the level of the Supreme Court can bring about changes in retrogressive state policies and bring relief to millions.
However, increased litigation in higher courts does not mean that HRLN has in any way reduced its emphasis on individual cases. It is necessary for lawyers and para-legals to simultaneously be engaged in routine work, because it is through such cases that HRLN learns its orientation and retains its compassion. Universal principles are often derived from simple individual cases. This is how young lawyers are trained. A judicious mix of work in the trial courts and class action petitions in the superior courts forms the complement of HRLN's legal work.
Broadly, HRLN's principle is to never turn away an indigent person, but there remain basic guidelines for litigation. Cases of employers against employees, men against women and landlords against tenants are generally not accepted. Cases of the state against the accused are never taken except in matters of rape and child sexual abuse. While some of the important public interest cases conducted by HRLN are described here, the list is selective and does not include the numerous cases fought on a daily basis in district courts, family courts and at various High Courts.
Legal Education
Asserting everyone's right to access and everyone's ability to understand the law - we attempt to demystify legal terms, concepts and procedures so that everyone, especially those neglected by the system of justice can find themselves more included. Law can then be the framework for liberation rather than of oppression by the elite. To do this, HRLN, takes legal education as a mission. It continuously campaigns to broad constituencies for better understanding about the law and the judicial system through different channels in the variety of Indian languages, and through material that is focused on its target audience.
HRLN is also part of the campaign to bring human rights law education into the mainstream. The aim is to incorporate international human rights principles into Indian law and in turn influence constitutional law in foreign jurisdictions through the development of innovative and path-breaking case law in India . In that sense, HRLN sees itself as part of the learning process.
HRLN lawyers and activists conduct legal workshops and seminars on a range of issues. Attended by students, activists, para-legals, social activists and lawyers, these programmes are designed to promote an understanding of laws and the working of the legal system; equip individuals and organisations to access the justice system; discuss effective strategies to prevent violations and seek justice for individual victims and communities.
Programmes are organised for judges and personnel of various government departments, including the police, with an aim to sensitise them to the particular problems faced by dalits, the disabled, children, women, victims of sexual harassment. .
We also foster the formation of community-based legal teams and law collectives nationally to achieve these goals on a larger scale by helping activists network with lawyers and by sharing our knowledge and practical experience. As the access to justice movement grows it challenges the privilege of knowledge on which oppression sanctified by institutionalised law is based. People know their rights, they fight for them, and the monopoly over law is shattered to create a more equitable and just society.
Advocacy
In courts, in the media, and in various public and legislative fora, HRLN is a strong advocate for laws and policies that promote and defend human rights. An important part of HRLN's work involves advocacy against legislation and policies that undermine human rights. This includes working to increase public awareness through research and dissemination of accurate information on violations and anti-poor policies.
In crucial areas where adequate legislation is lacking or requires amendment, HRLN has been at the forefront of efforts to formulate laws and policies - such as against child sexual abuse, against communal crimes, and for the right to food and work. HRLN's advocacy efforts encourage debates and discussions at the local, state, and national levels.
Investigation, Monitoring and Crisis Response
HRLN members are routinely called upon to conduct and participate in fact findings. In many cases the filing of petitions in courts has been a follow up to the monitoring and documentation of violations.
Crisis response takes many forms. It could be humanitarian (Latur earthquake relief, Tsunami aftermath, Nepal crisis response for political refugees), or it could be more directed towards a larger effort to promote human rights, peace and democracy in the South Asian region as a whole given the striking parallels in which state excesses are perpetrated without much thought to the citizen's right to defence and justice. These are especially so where the state assumes extraordinary powers against citizens in the fight against "terror".
Access to Justice and People's Tribunals
In 1993, HRLN organised the 'National Conference on Human Rights, Environment and the Law' where the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights ( IPT) was formed. The IPT investigations are led by retired judges of the High Courts and Supreme Court. It is a semi-autonomous association that works through People's Tribunals and Public Hearings to draw attention to human rights violations and issues concerning environmental justice. The IPT has conducted over 30 tribunals since 1993 on issues such as police violence, the right to food, and housing rights. It provides a forum and an opportunity for those who do not have access to the regular courts to voice their grievances. The goal is to stop existing violations, highlight harmful legislation and prevent further atrocities from taking place. The very act of holding a people's tribunal challenges the notion that only the formal courts can adjudicate over matters that concern the republic of citizens or that the notion of justice is confined to those who have the means to exercise their rights.
Campaigns
There is today a direct link between the public interest petitions done by HRLN and the campaigns it participates in and convenes. The latter create awareness about the issues, facilitate the dissemination of the orders passed by the courts, and make the process for change participatory. This tells the judiciary that society is concerned about the outcome of the cases, and therefore makes the judiciary more responsive to the needs of civil society. Campaigns form a consultative process through which civil society monitors the progress of a case and the performance of lawyers, and provide crucial information and support for the lawyers. The dynamic interplay between the campaigns and litigation provides for a transparent decision-making process in the conduct of the litigation.
Solidarity
HRLN adopts an internationalist approach. There cannot be human rights in India if they are threatened in neighbouring countries of the region. Further, as rights are indivisible, so are they deeply linked. Child rights cannot be secured without the rights to food, education, shelter, and health being ensured. It is useful to remind those in power about international instruments that lay a basic guideline. Exchanging information through seminars, conferences and meetings enrich the corpus of knowledge and open up possibilities of further legal aid action around certain themes. HRLN is shoulder-to-shoulder with national and international initiatives for peace, rule of law and democracy.
Communication and Publications
HRLN publishes 'know your rights' material including books, reports and posters. These publications aim to simplify and make accessible important developments in human rights and law in India .
Researched by our experienced team of lawyers and activists, the publications are a valuable resource for lawyers, activists, judges, academics, researchers, concerned individuals, the media and educational institutions. The books aim to fulfil the widely felt need for single published sources that bring together legal materials relevant to particular areas of human right law.
Recognising the limited resources available to lawyers and activists living away from metropolises, HRLN seeks to meet their need for information by publishing and distributing comprehensive material. The books are compilations of important judgments and case law, and include analysis of the use of laws and commentaries on the response of the legal system. Selected material is also translated into languages other than English with the aim of dissemination through an effective nationwide distribution mechanism.
Films on themes of import are made to promote debate and discussion, and to mobilise opinion around the campaign for human rights.
The posters compile legal information around an issue and present it in a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand style for a mass audience.
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