OUR VISION
Our vision is of a world where there is access to justice.
A world where:
- The vulnerable and marginalised enforce their legal rights without impediment;
- Human rights are upheld, our natural environment is protected;
- State and corporate actors held to account for human rights and environmental abuses; and
- The vulnerable have meaningful access to justice.
Our vision is underwritten by the belief that for social and environmental justice is to realised, there must first be access to justice.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to equip individuals and communities with the practical information needed to help them uphold their human rights and protect their environment through legal action and advocacy.
We will achieve this by:
- Providing practical guidance on access to justice in the most vital areas of need;
- Distributing our materials via websites, other appropriate portals/media and via partnerships with networks on the ground in the countries we serve; and
- Facilitating the creation of communities of public interest lawyers and activists to be a further resource of legal and practical support in this field.
Our board
Odi Lagi
Odi Lagi, is a development professional and human rights advocate with over 17 years experience promoting human rights-based programming and community development in Nigeria and an Action4Justice board member. She is the Program Director, Network of University Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI) Nigeria, a network of clinical programmes promoting access to justice, legal aid, justice education, and public interest lawyering. A member, Board of Director and Secretary Executive Committee of the Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE) representing African region. Founder and Executive Director Value-Based Community Initiatives. Odi Lagi has an MA in Human Rights from Central European University, diploma in Development Leadership from Coady International Institute Saint Francis Xavier University Canada, diploma in Social Innovation from UN University of Peace, and an Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) Human Rights Fellow.
Joss Saunders
Joss is the General Counsel at Oxfam and Action4Justice board member. Joss was a founder of Advocates for International Development, the pro bono legal organisation and of the Legal Response International which seeks to create a more level playing field between actors in the climate change negotiations (UNFCCC) through legal assistance and building the capacity of climate negotiators. Joss is the Director of Lawyers Against Poverty. His interests at Oxfam include defending civic space, human rights, and disaster law. Joss was a Research Visitor at the Bonavero Institute and a key contributor to the Bonavero’s Non-Credit Course, Developing Strategies for the Protection & Promotion of Human Rights. His research at the Institute was on strategic litigation for human rights and the environment, and on the role of lawyers in promoting social justice.
Irene Tello
Irene is Executive director of Impunidad Cero, an anti-corruption organisation in Mexico and an Action4Justice board member. She has a Master’s degree in International Relations from New York University and is a Fulbright Grantee. She has a degree in Philosophy at UNAM. Previously she worked at Transparencia Mexicana, the Mexican Chapter of Transparency International, and at NYU’s GovLab as a research assistant. As part of her work at Impunidad Cero, she has coordinated the publication of more than 45 research papers regarding several topics of lack of rule of law in Mexico and co-designed two digital tools to fight and visualize impunity in Mexico (https://denuncia.org/ and https://impunidata.org/).
Richard Lord
Richard is a Chair of the Action4Justice Governance Group and A4J board member. He is a barrister and commercial litigator in Brick Court Chambers in London. He has particular interests in maritime, insurance, environmental and climate change law as well as promoting public interest litigation. He is co-author of Climate Change Liability: Transnational Law and Practice, published by Cambridge University Press.
Matthijs de Jong
Matthijs is an Action4Justice board member and works for Greenpeace International as in-house organisational lawyer and is admitted to the Dutch bar as attorney-at-law. Matthijs specialises in corporate and maritime matters with a background in corporate law and private litigation. He holds an LL.M. in European Union Law from the University of Amsterdam (2009).
Dr. Christopher Mbazira
Christopher is a Professor of Law and Principal of the School of Law, Makerere University. He is also the Coordinator of the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) at the same School and a founding member of the Network of Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL). He previously chaired of the Rule of Law Committee of the Uganda Law Society. As a legal academic, Prof. Mbazira has taken led in the revolutionalisation of legal training at the Makerere University, Uganda and the region. Through PILAC, he has entrenched the use the clinical methodology in the training of Bachelor of Laws students.
The purpose of the board is to oversee and supervise the proper management and direction of the Stichting and to set and approve strategy.
Remuneration policy:
- Board members will not receive any salary, compensation or remuneration of any kind for their work as board members of A4J.
- The Board members may be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in their capacity as Board members and directly related to their work for A4J. These expenses will be reasonable and documented. Any disagreements related to the reimbursement of travel expenses will be settled by the Board.
- Board members who perform an executive function over and above their duties as Board members may with the prior written approval of the Board be paid appropriate remuneration for such duties within the boundaries of the limits set by the Dutch tax authorities for policy makers of Dutch registered charities
Our Executive Committee
Chara de Lacey
Chara has worked in the human rights sector for ten years, including prior experience at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and Advocates for International Development, where she led business and human rights projects, and the International Bar Association, where she delivered justice sector reform programmes. Chara is a UK-qualified lawyer and holds an LLM degree in Law, Globalisation and Development.
Richard Lord QC
Richard is a Chair of the Action4Justice Governance Group and A4J board member. He is a barrister and commercial litigator in Brick Court Chambers in London. He has particular interests in maritime, insurance, environmental and climate change law as well as promoting public interest litigation. He is co-author of Climate Change Liability: Transnational Law and Practice, published by Cambridge University Press.
Hannah Blitzer
Hannah joined Action4Justice in 2020, having previously worked in environmental and human rights legal research and in charity fundraising and development. She became a member of the A4J Executive Committee in January 2021. Hannah is also a PhD Candidate at the University of Sussex, specialising in environmental and climate law, human rights and justice. She holds a LLB, LPC, and LLM in International Human Rights Law.
Josh Jackson
Josh is a barrister at Cloisters Chambers, London, where he specialises in human rights and international law, public and administrative law, and employment and equality law. He has also been elected as a Steering Committee member of the ETO Consortium.
OUR OBJECTIVE
The objects of the foundation are to promote the use of legal action, in the broadest sense of the word, which is aimed at general interest. The foundation seeks to, either alone or in collaboration with others, achieve this by using information and communication technology in order to provide information to a wide audience on how legal action can be used in the promotion of the general interest and to do that is related or conducive thereto, with the objects to be given their most expansive possible interpretation.
RSIN: 73392987
