Strategic Litigation Action Grants under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Value Programme (CERV)

• Eligibility Criteria:
  In order to be eligible, the applicants must:
  – For lead applicants (i.e. the “coordinator”): be non-profit legal entities (private bodies)
  – For co-applicants: be non-profit or profit legal entities (public or private bodies). Organisations that are profit-oriented may apply only in partnership with private non-profit organisations; and
  – Be formally established in one of the eligible countries.
• Type of funding: Programmatic
• Target countries: Europe
• Application language: English

The European Commission (EC) is accepting proposals for the Strategic Litigation EU action grants under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Value Programme (CERV). CERV aims to promote civil society organisations’ awareness of capacity building and implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

This call for proposals will support several EU policy initiatives. One of these is the Commission Recommendation on protecting journalists and human rights defenders who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings.

As highlighted in the Charter Strategy, people need to be aware of their rights and need help to receive effective judicial protection in case their fundamental rights are breached. Such protection also includes strategic litigation involving rights enshrined in the Charter, which contributes to a more coherent implementation and application of EU law and to the enforcement of individuals’ rights.

Strategic litigators are key to fostering the promotion and protection of Charter rights and support should be given to strengthening their capacity and specialised knowledge of the Charter and on how to develop a strategic approach to cases. In this context, the support and assistance to the victims provided by civil society organisations, NHRIs and Equality bodies and Ombuds-institutions is instrumental.

Projects under this priority should, through training, knowledge sharing, and exchange of good practices, strengthen the knowledge and ability of civil society organisations as well as of practitioners, legal professionals, and independent human rights bodies to effectively engage in litigation practices at national and European level and to improve access to justice and enforcement of rights under EU law, including the Charter.

Projects under this priority can also include a focus on countering manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings against journalists and human rights defenders who engage in public participation (Strategic lawsuits against public participation).

The following activities can be covered under the Strategic Litigation programme priority:

• Activities to increase the ability of civil society organisations, including legal practitioners working for them, NHRIs, Equality bodies and Ombuds Institutions and other rights defenders to develop skills and capacity in the area of strategic litigation on fundamental rights under the Charter, including by deepening their knowledge about the preliminary ruling mechanism (under Article 267 TFEU) and the opportunities of legal protection available under EU law;
• Analytical activities, such as data collection and research, and the creation of tools or data bases (e.g. thematic databases of jurisprudence);
• Communication activities, including dissemination of information and awareness raising about rights, redress mechanisms, and strategic cases;
• Capacity building and awareness-raising activities to counter manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings against journalists and human rights defenders who engage in public participation (Strategic lawsuits against public participation).

Please note that under this priority, the litigation fees will not be funded.

See here to learn more and apply.

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