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International audience; This article aims to explain the differential use of litigation by social movements pursuing social change. While previous studies have sought to compare non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that turn to litigation with those that do not, we study organizations that have all resorted at least once to legal action. Taking Belgium and the field of antidiscrimination as a case study, our research confirms the findings of previous literature that the characteristics of the legal environment do impact on the choice of organizations whether or not to go to court. But we also find that legal action is used differentially by NGOs depending on two factors in particular: their position as an insider or outsider in the political realm and their possession of legal resources. Based on a quantitative measure of legal actions initiated by NGOs and interviews with activists, we propose a typology of civil society organizations—which we label “experienced litigants,” “occasional litigants,” and “litigants by necessity”—that could be transposed to other contexts and other types of interest groups.

Strateško pravdanje je način uporabe sodnega postopka, pri katerem glavni cilj ni zaščititi pravic in interesov posameznika, ki nastopa kot pravdna stranka, ampak je v ospredju želja po doseganju širših družbenih sprememb. Gre torej za politično orodje, ki pa pride v poštev predvsem v primerih, ko širša javnost skupaj z zakonodajno in izvršilno vejo oblasti nima posluha za težave in potrebe določene skupnosti. Strateško pravdanje namreč ni brez tveganj in slednje velja pred začetkom pravdanja preučiti in ustrezno upoštevati. Izvor strateškega pravdanja umeščamo v petdeseta leta prejšnjega stoletja v ZDA, tj. v čas gibanja za civilne pravice. Čeprav gre za relativno mlad pravni pojav, se je z vse širšo uporabo v praksi zanj začelo zanimati precejšnje število akademikov in drugih raziskovalcev. Med številnimi sociološkimi in pravnimi deli na temo strateškega pravdanja prevladujeta predvsem dve temi, ki sta v tej diplomski nalogi tudi nekoliko podrobneje predstavljeni. Prva obravnava vprašanje, kdaj (v kakšnih okoliščinah oziroma pod katerimi pogoji) se aktivisti poslužujejo strateškega pravdanja kot orodja za doseganje sprememb v družbi. Pri drugi pa gre za obravnavo učinkovitosti strateškega pravdanja, ki je močno povezana z izhodiščno normativno kritiko, da ni prav, da sodišča posegajo v pristojnosti in delovanje drugih dveh vej oblasti. To diplomsko delo je umeščeno v kontekst boja proti diskriminaciji v Sloveniji. Po bližje obravnava strateško pravdanje, s katerim so se aktivisti zoperstavili diskriminaciji na podlagi državljanstva oziroma narodnosti, spolne usmerjenosti in etnične pripadnosti. Na podlagi analiziranih primerov magistrsko delo ponudi nekaj opažanj in predvidevanj o razvoju strateškega pravdanja v slovenskem prostoru v prihodnosti. Strategic litigation refers to the use of legal action, whereby the goals pursued reach beyond the protection of the rights of immediate parties to the legal proceedings and instead centre around the interests of entire communities. As a tool, strategic litigation proves to be particularly useful to those who are marginalized or otherwise disregarded by a particular society. While potentially a promising tool for driving change, strategic litigation comes with its own set of risks and disadvantages that should not be disregarded and should instead be properly taken into account by legal practitioners. Strategic litigation was first noticeably used as part of the fight against racism by the civil rights movement in the United States of America. Since then, the field of legal practice expanded and with it so did the overall interest of the academia. The following thesis focuses on two major themes of the existing research today. Firstly, the thesis addresses the question of why certain individuals or groups turn to the courts as part of their quest for systemic change while others do not. Secondly, it deals with the question of effectiveness of strategic litigation which is closely linked with the critique levied against strategic litigation for being anti-democratic and elitist in nature. The thesis places its analysis in the context of the anti-discrimination efforts in Slovenia. Case studies include examples of strategic litigation, whereby the activists faced discrimination based on nationality, sexual orientation and ethnicity.

Over the years, many theories have tried to explain the puzzle of cross-national variation in preliminary reference rates before the ECJ. Most of the contributions focused on the role of national judges, examining their legal education, policy preferences, workload, and attitude towards higher courts. This article adopts, instead, a legal mobilization perspective that decentralizes the role of courts and redirects the focus to the litigants and their political context. Relying on empirical research and on a comparison of three country case studies in the field of migration, the article argues that national patterns of mobilization influence the emergence of preliminary references. Moreover, it identifies three factors at the national level that help understand when legal mobilization occurs via preliminary reference: altruism, Euro-expertise, and EU legal opportunity structure. The article makes both an empirical and a theoretical contribution by bridging the scholarship on legal mobilization and EU judicial politics.

L’investissement de l’arène judiciaire par les associations et les mouvements sociaux fait l’objet d’un intérêt croissant de la part des sciences sociales. Contrairement aux études antérieures, qui ont cherché à déterminer pourquoi certaines associations vont en justice alors que d’autres n’y vont pas, notre approche vise à comparer entre elles des associations qui sont allées en justice afin de mettre en lumière leurs rapports différenciés au droit et au recours judiciaire. Pour ce faire, nous avons centré notre enquête sur les actions portées en justice par des associations belges en matière de discrimination liée à quatre critères : le genre, les convictions religieuses, l’origine raciale ou ethnique et le handicap.

Prepričanje, da je pravo pomembno in učinkovito sredstvo za doseganje družbenih sprememb, je postalo posebej razširjeno po dogodkih v zgodnjem obdobju druge polovice 20. stoletja, ko je po svetu prišlo do nekaterih množičnih družbenih gibanj – ker ta v marsičem niso povsem ustrezala do tedaj prevladujočemu modelu družbenih gibanj, so dobila oznako »nova« družbena gibanja. Zavoljo uveljavljanja kolektivnih interesov nova družbena gibanja pogosto presegajo klasične vzorce političnega delovanja in kot eno izmed taktik nemalokrat na nek način mobilizirajo tudi pravo. Medtem ko uporaba zakonodajnega postopka kot sredstva za doseganje družbenih sprememb predpostavlja obstoj politične volje, pa koncept strateškega pravdanja temelji na ideji, da sodne institucije predstavljajo učinkovito okolje za induciranje družbenih sprememb tudi na tistih področjih, kjer je politična volja iz različnih razlogov tradicionalno šibka. Prizadevanja za spreminjanje družbenih vzorcev prek sodne veje oblasti je vedno spremljala precejšnja mera skepse – prvič, pri tem kaj hitro pride do poseganja v sfero zakonodajne veje oblasti, in drugič, obstoji le malo prepričljivih dokazov o tem, da je takšna strategija vplivanja na družbo res učinkovita. Rešitev teh polemik pa bi lahko predstavljalo spoznanje, da se pravna mobilizacija ne odraža izključno v okviru postopkov pred formalnimi pravnimi institucijami, temveč vključuje veliko več. Nova družbena gibanja pravo pogosto dojemajo tudi kot instrument za spreminjanje pravne zavesti in pravne kulture, kar se v končni fazi lahko prek različnih mehanizmov manifestira tudi v spremembi vzorcev razmišljanja in vedenja v družbi, torej v družbeni spremembi. Following the events of the early part of the second half of the 20th century, when certain mass social movements have emerged in the world, it has become a widespread belief that law is an important and effective means of bringing about social change. As mass social movements in many respects did not fully correspond to the prevailing model of social movements of the time, they were labeled “new” social movements. For the sake of pursuing its collective interests, new social movements often the classical patterns of political activity and, as one of the tactics, often mobilize the law in some ways. While the use of the legislative process as a means of bringing about social change presupposes the existence of political will, the concept of strategic litigation is based on the idea that judicial institutions are an effective environment for initiating social change also in those areas where political will is for various reasons traditionally weak. Efforts to change social patterns through the judiciary have always been accompanied by a great deal of skepticism – first, as there is a risk of progressive courts substituting their own vision of justice for that of democratically electing law-making bodies representing the majority will, and second, as there is little convincing evidence that such a strategy for influencing society is truly effective. The solution to these controversies, however, could be the realization that legal mobilization is not exclusively reflected in proceedings before formal legal institutions, but involves much more. Namely, law is often perceived by new social movements as an instrument for changing legal consciousness and legal culture, which can ultimately manifest itself, through various mechanisms, in changing patterns of thinking and behavior in society, that is, in social change.

O artigo analisa interações entre os movimentos sociais e as instituições jurídicas com o objetivo de observar efeitos gerados pelo uso do litígio como estratégia de ação coletiva em conflitos ambientais. A partir de dados empíricos e tendo em vista o debate teórico da Legal Mobilization Theory, apresentamos uma caracterização de tipos de efeitos: efeitos que alteram ou incrementam os próprios processos de mobilização social e efeitos sobre as instituições. Argumentamos que a adoção de estratégias judiciais produz implicações importantes sobre processos de mobilização social e de mudança institucional. As análises foram elaboradas a partir dos achados de duas pesquisas que investigaram o uso da Ação Civil Pública em conflitos ambientais. Uma levantou dados de conflitos ambientais em geral no Estado de Espírito Santo e na cidade do Rio de Janeiro e outra levantou dados da Campanha por um Brasil Livre de Transgênicos. This article analyzes the interactions between social movements and juridical institutions in order to observe effects generated by the use of litigation as a strategy for collective action in environmental conflicts. From empirical data and in view of the theoretical debate on Legal Mobilization Theory, we present a characterization of some types of effects: effects that alter or increase the processes of social mobilization itself and effects on the institutions. We argue that the adoption of juridical and judicial strategies produces important implications on processes of social mobilization and institutional change. The analysis was based on the findings of two researches that had investigated the use of public civil action in environmental conflicts. One study collected data from environmental conflicts in general in the state of Espírito Santo and in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the other from the Campaign for a Transgenic-free Brazil. L’article analyse les interactions entre les mouvements sociaux et des institutions juridiques dans le but d’observer les effets engendrés par l’utilisation d’un litige en tant que stratégie d’action collective dans des conflits environnementaux. À partir de données empiriques et en considérant le débat théorique de la Legal Mobilization Theory, nous présentons une caractérisation des divers effets: ceux qui modifient ou augmentent les propres processus de mobilisation sociale et ceux qui atteignent les institutions. Nous affirmons que l’adoption de stratégies judiciaires produit des conséquences importantes sur les processus de mobilisation sociale et de changement institutionnel. Les analyses ont été compilées à partir des résultats de deux études qui enquêtent l’utilisation d’une action civile publique en cas de conflits environnementaux. L’une a compilé les données de conflits environnementaux en général dans l’état d’Espírito Santo et dans la ville de Rio de Janeiro et l’autre, des données de la campagne “pour un Brésil sans transgéniques”.

International audience; This article argues that the analysis of legal mobilization needs to give more attention to the state and its relationship with social movements in order to examine how the state either sustains social movements’ demands or is a field of contention for those demands. Focusing on how disability bureaucrats and activists mobilize antidiscrimination law in Sweden, this article shows that two main factors shape legal mobilization within the bureaucracy and alter the state's ability to become a legal mobilization actor: (1) the institutional relationships between social movement organizations and government agencies and (2) the profiles and careers of bureaucrats and activists. It concludes by suggesting several lines for further research on law and social movements in nonpluralist countries.

In social movements, litigation is used to bring collective actions against transnational corporations. The effects of this strategy are discussed in the current paper. The main objective is to present a typology that advances research on this subject, as literature is scarce. A social scientific approach is adopted. Data is derived from the observations of a set of empirical studies concerning the use of legal strategies in environmental conflicts in Brazil over the last two decades. El presente artículo problematiza los efectos del uso que movimientos sociales hacen del litigio como una estrategia en acciones colectivas en contra de grandes empresas transnacionales. El objetivo central es presentar una tipología que permita avanzar en las investigaciones acerca del tema teniendo en vista que este tema es poco investigado. El abordaje es fundamentalmente teórico, en el área de las ciencias sociales, pero derivado de observaciones relativas a un conjunto de investigaciones empíricas sobre el uso de estrategias judiciales en conflictos ambientales en Brasil, en las dos últimas décadas. O presente artigo problematiza os efeitos do uso que movimentos sociais fazem do litígio enquanto uma estratégia em processos de ação coletiva contra grandes empresas transnacionais. O objetivo central é apresentar uma tipologia que permita avançar nas investigações sobre o tema tendo em vista que este é pouco pesquisado. A abordagem é fundamentalmente teórica, inscrita no campo das ciências sociais, mas derivada de observações relativas a um conjunto de pesquisas empíricas sobre o uso de estratégias judiciais em conflitos ambientais no Brasil, nas últimas duas décadas.