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Litigation, Transnational Civil Society,
and the Protection of Human Rights

» by Noah Gottschalk

In light of the varied potential outcomes of human rights litigation, both inside the courts and out, it is imperative that NGOs and individuals considering adopting this tactic be aware of the consequences of their decisions. Several key factors can be extrapolated from the positive and negative implications described in this paper that can help NGOs and individuals determine whether or not human rights litigation should form a part of their greater strategy for combating a human rights abuse.

The more informed NGOs and individuals are about the potential results of litigation, the better prepared they will be for the outcome, whatever it may be. Those considering human rights litigation must be informed of the costs, financial and human, at the outset; subsequently, a pragmatic decision must be made as to whether or not this tactic is most efficient given the resources of the group.

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© Noah Gottschalk 2004. To contact the author write to » noah@lawanddevelopment.org.