In 2021 the International Justice Clinic launched the Treaty Body Litigation Initiative to bring or support individual claims before the key monitoring bodies of the UN system, to seek meaningful redress for victims of digital rights violations, and advocate for a rights-respecting jurisprudence touching on some of the most important issues of human rights in the digital age. Today’s treaty body jurisprudence is in its earliest phase of development. This project aim to help develop that jurisprudence through strategic use of the individual complaints procedures, collaborating especially (though not solely) with civil society actors in national environments least likely to provide remedies that meet international standards.

On November 30 and December 2, 2021, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) and the International Justice Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law) hosted online consultations for digital rights advocates and lawyers from around the world. This joint initiative aims to build a global network of partners to develop progressive digital rights jurisprudence through United Nations treaty bodies. The consultations gathered digital rights advocates and lawyers representing organizations working in Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Mexico, Nepal, Palestine, the Philippines, and Senegal, and throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Eastern Europe, among other locations.

Read the summary of the consultations below: