Strategic, or public interest, litigation is a dispute resolution phenomenon aiming to promote social justice and the interests of the community as a whole, fostering its moral and material progress through legal actions brought by private actors (like individuals or NGOs).
In particular, it often seeks to defend the positions of those less advantaged, less represented, less educated and less powerful in the political and economic context (in short, the weakest members of the society). For these reasons, at times it has been described as a precious tool both of counter-majoritarian force and for overcoming political inertia in the judicial arena.
Inevitably, the delicate matters litigated blur the thin line of the separation of powers, a principle now more than ever put into question, together with the role of the judge and the extension of its powers and responsibilities.
Examples of strategic litigation are the civil-rights movement from the 1960s in the US, fighting racial desegregation, but also the several lawsuits against prison overcrowding, unfair working conditions, LGBT discrimination, environmental pollution or police abuse, as well as those to favour social housing, health care, educational opportunities, data protection or a better foster care system, until the most recent ones related to climate change, in what has now established itself as a worldwide movement.
The fora and procedural techniques used for these purposes are numerous: from tradition constitutional review paths to supranational applications, through the most recent collective redress mechanisms. A common aspect, instead, is the relief sought, which is not a mere compensation for damages, as in the traditional civil liability scheme, but, rather than past-focused, is more forward-looking, with claimants aiming to provoke systemic, structural or regulatory change. The main goal of strategic litigation is to stop an unjust activity, condition or omission affecting the collectivity in general or a class of people, not just those bringing the lawsuit. Hence, injunctive or interim measures are more common. Success is not measured merely by the results of the judicial proceedings, but also by the impact that they have generated within the society: for instance, by raising public awareness or by motivating legislative forces or large corporations to act or change their policies.
The object of this line of research is the study of climate litigation in a comparative perspective (identification and comparison of different models, study of their circulation among legal systems), inter-regulatory perspective (relationship between national and supranational sources; relationships between national and supranational courts and proceedings) and also transnational perspective (cases between citizens and companies established or based in different States, cases against States different from those of citizenship or residence of the plaintiffs), in relation to various legally relevant sectors (theory of sources and interpretation, environmental and climate change law, civil liability, remedies, insurance, legal comparison).
Climate litigation has acquired considerable importance following global warming and the increasingly evident frequency of extreme phenomena (e.g. floods, droughts, heat peaks), which have led numerous subjects of private law (individuals, associations) to complain damage or danger of damage to one’s person and property, and therefore to sue States that do not adopt sufficiently stringent regulations on the matter of combating climate change or companies that contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years, many Common Law systems (e.g. the United States, Australia, Ireland) and Civil Law systems (e.g. the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and Italy itself) have seen or see pending controversies in this fascinating and complex matter.
The various activities contemplated (conferences and seminars aimed at academics, professionals, policy-makers and students, both Italian and foreign; individual and collective scientific publications; possible management of a website) will be implemented by professors of the department, with the aim of adequately coordinating their research activity and also interacting with external stakeholders as a research group specialized in this matter, favoring the development of scientific relationships, including international ones.
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