compensation for their duties. For example, in the Netherlands it was thanks to a complaint brought to the court
of Amsterdam by a lawyer that the principle of mandatory representation for minors suspected and accused of
a crime was extended to minors that are summoned to come to the police station and not deprived of liberty.120
More generally, it is important to consider the larger impact of litigation including potential
‘unintended consequences’. Embedding strategic litigation into a larger strategy or a Theory of
Change is important for litigators and clients to agree upon the intended outcome and expectations.121
Combining strategic litigation with other advocacy tools, like coalition building and media
outreach, may increase the impact of strategic litigation.
Ultimately, to enhance the impact of litigation, it is important that CSOs build trustful and
sustainable relationships with lawyers and bar associations. It is thus recommendable to
find ways to ensure regular exchange between CSOs, who are familiar with human rights shortcomings
in law and policies, and practising lawyers, who may then use this information to identify potential
cases and bring them court (see also above, § 2.4).
3.4 Training
Definition and purpose
Training can be defined as “the process of learning the skills you need to do a particular job or
activity”.122 Human right training is defined in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education
and Training, Article 2, as follows: “human rights education and training comprises all educational,
training, information, awareness-raising and learning activities aimed at promoting universal respect
for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and thus contributing to, inter alia,
the prevention of human rights violations and abuses by providing persons with knowledge, skills and
understanding and developing their attitudes and behaviours, to empower them to contribute to the
building and promotion of a universal culture of human rights.”123
Training is “an essential element of any change process that organisations undergo in order to adapt
to concrete realities and related challenges.”124 The participants in the project all acknowledged the
importance of training to strengthen procedural rights. Only if the key stakeholders involved - from
police to lawyers - have the adequate capacities, can procedural rights be effectively guaranteed.
Principles and strategic use
There is extensive guidance on how to carry out effective training to promote human rights and the
rule of law.125 The key aspect of effective (human rights) trainings is that it must target competencies
at different levels, namely:
• Knowledge,
• Skills
• Attitudes.126
120. Rechtbank Amsterdam, No. AMS 21/809 10-11-2021 <https://deeplink.rechtspraak.nl/
uitspraak?id=ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2021:6411>.
121. Tina Power, Michael Power and Ben Batros, ‘Strategic Litigation Toolkit: Prepared by ALT Advisory’ (Digital Freedom Fund)
15.
122. Cambridge Dictionary, ‘Training’ (2023).
123. United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011) A/RES/66/137 (adopted December 2011)
article 2(1).
124. Walter Suntinger, ’Chapter 13 Police Training and International Human Rights Standards’ (2018) in Ralf Alleweldt and Guido
Fickenscher, The Police and International Human Rights Law (Springer 2018) 281-282.
125. See, amongst many others, Ibid. and UNODC, ‘Police Reform’ (2023) <https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/justice-and-prisonreform/cpcj-tools-police.html>; FRA, ‘Fundamental Rights-Based Police Training – A Manual for Police Trainers’ (2019); OSCE
and ODIHR, ‘Guidelines on Human Rights Education for Law Enforcement Officials’ (2012).
126. See the ‘Human rights education triangle’ in FRA, ‘Fundamental Rights-Based Police Training’ (2019) 14; OSCE and ODIHR,
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