THE CJL’s ACTION
Research & Investigation
If information is fundamental before considering any action, it goes without saying that the CJL must be able to investigate independently. For its action to be better targeted, the CJL engages researchers and investigative journalists to produce studies and analyzes related to the themes dealt with by the organization.
The CJL will eventually be the point of convergence for all those who wish to expose the restrictions imposed upon the rule of law especially those behind them, whether they are members of the political elite, the media, academics as as well as economic players who support them.
This is to make the CJL a platform of resistance to the building of an authoritarian state, which mandate after term, strengthens its repressive apparatus and mobilizes the mechanisms of fear and scapegoating to legitimize it. Faced with this situation, the CJL is developing its investigation arm as well as the means to support and defend whistleblowers.
Popular Education & Empowerment
We strongly believe in empowerment and autonomy. To do this, the free flow of ideas, know-how and common initiatives require safe spaces for exchange and solidarity.
We can not reclaim liberties we do not know or bring about change in a society we do not understand. To know one’s place in the latter, to understand its dynamics, to identify the domination relationships that organise it and the structural weaknesses that prevent social progress can not be envisaged without free popular education for all. The CJL intervenes directly or involves specialists with a proven track record in order to give everyone the means to act.
Whether you are a full-time activist, sympathiser or just motivated by the simple desire to enrich your personal education or to better know your rights, the popular education offered by the CJL in partnership with other players of civil society aims to develop a sense of solidarity which is itself paramount to any collective action.
Strategic Litigation
A decline in rights for one category of the population is a setback for all. In order to put current laws or their practice before their limits or to raise public awareness, the CJL engages in a targeted manner to support individuals or organizations in courts. The CJL’s goal is in fact to address the fundamental issues each case raises.
Be it exceptional measures in the context of the “war on terror”, discrimination, police brutality or mass surveillance, the CJL coordinates its legal action by bringing similar cases together in order to give them momentum and thus greater chances of bringing about positive change.
FOREIGN POLICY
The CJL is a transnational organization in essence. Based in France, it nevertheless works with its partners in Europe and North America for coalition struggles within international institutions.
The normalization of racism that makes certain segments of the population the ideal scapegoat to justify violations of civil liberties is a trend that affects many countries. To meet this challenge, we believe in the capacity of our civil society to connect its points of convergence and to work together in a coordinated way both at home and abroad.
Through the network woven by our founders, we are developing a parallel diplomacy to give international momentum to our struggles at the local level. Its current initiative is the Transatlantic Coordination Against Racism and Repression which began its work in October 2017.
CITIZEN LOBBYING
What to do when unjust laws are being passed? How to demand accountability from institutions? How to challenge regulatory bodies? How to become a counter power when the general interest is sacrificed for the benefit of particular one?
Such questions are recurrent and shared by many. The means of action are more numerous than we think but mobilizations are not decided overnight. In fact, they are a work in constant progress. Thus, the whole of the CJL’s action is structured to allow the emergence of citizen mobilizations that can succeed despite the obstacles inherent to any collective action.
