Anticorruption
The Justice Initiative is working to secure legal remedies for bribery, the theft of public assets, and money laundering arising from the exploitation of natural resources.

Complementarity
According to the Rome statute, the International Criminal Court operates as a court of last resort, taking on cases only when local governments are unable or unwilling to do so. In support of the principle of “complementarity,” the Justice Initiative works to enhance the capacity of domestic court systems so that more international crimes can be tried at the national level.

Criminal Justice
The Justice Initiative supports criminal justice reform around the world by developing alternatives to pretrial detention, broadening access to competent legal representation, and promoting new alliances for reform.

Discrimination
The Justice Initiative uses advocacy and litigation to combat the marginalization of racial and ethnic minorities in Europe, taking on cases involving migrants, school segregation, violence against Roma, and policies that ban Muslims from wearing the hijab or building mosques.

Ethnic Profiling
The Justice Initiative has brought ethnic profiling into public focus across Europe through cutting edge research on police stop-and-search practices. We have worked with law enforcement agencies and grassroots organizations in several countries to develop fairer and more effective policing that focuses scarce resources on genuine threats.

Freedom of Information & Expression
Silence and secrecy are two of the most powerful tools that governments can employ to mute critics and cloak their actions from public scrutiny. The Justice Initiative works to uphold the right to speak and to know—in order to support public involvement in government and accountability, and to challenge corruption and human rights abuses.

International Justice
The Justice Initiative seeks to reduce impunity for serious crimes by helping domestic and international tribunals conduct effective investigations, carry out fair trials, and engage victims and affected communities. It supports the mission of the International Criminal Court.

Legal Empowerment
Many countries face a shortage of lawyers or find that few in the legal profession will assist poor clients or advocate public interest cases. The Justice Initiative builds legal capacity by training and supporting lawyers, law students, and paralegals working with underserved communities.

National Security & Counterterrorism
The Justice Initiative seeks redress for human rights violations linked to national security and counterterrorism operations. We are using freedom of information laws and other tools to investigate the complicity of African and European governments in the United States’ extraordinary rendition program.

Pretrial Justice
The Justice Initiative is spearheading a global campaign for pretrial justice, highlighting how excessive and arbitrary pretrial detention—locking away millions of people, for months or even years, before they are tried, in many cases for longer than the maximum imprisonment that could imposed in the event of conviction—diminishes public health while contributing to poverty, torture, and corruption.

Statelessness
Statelessness affects some 15 million people globally, effectively depriving them of access to education, employment, social services, and legal status. Justice Initiative advocacy, research and litigation aim to expand access to citizenship and protect minorities.