What is strategic litigation?

Abstract

The article considers the concept of strategic litigation. Using the case of drinking beer in a public place as an illustration, we define strategic litigation (SL) as a legal and sociopolitical action consisting in initiating or joining ongoing legal proceedings in order to bring about systemic changes aimed at broadening the scope of fundamental rights of members of a given community or at a fuller realization of its legal values. Community can be understood as all citizens or residents of a state or as minority groups (ethnic, sexual, religious, racial, class, etc.). We then present the theoretical and legal conditions of such actions and the political arguments critical of SL (limited citizen participation and expansion of judicial power at the expense of legislative power). Finally, we present some possible levels of research on SL and its potential role in legal education.