The Legal Complex: Professionalisation of Human Rights

This chapter offers a compelling exploration of the intricate evolution of the legal profession specialising in human rights litigation within Eastern European countries and Russia. This in-depth, comparative analysis unravels the transformation of human rights practice into a formalized and prominent field of expertise. This chapter utilises the theoretical concept of ‘a legal complex’ by Lucien Karpik and Terrence Halliday (2011) to demonstrate the relational nature of human rights professionalisation, encompassing the networks of legal professionals, activists, journalists, and grassroot organizers as a broader collective social actor. Alongside the professionalisation of human rights among trained lawyers, through human rights educational programmes and professional associations organized by local bar councils, this chapter traces the emergence of various specialized human rights organizations and NGOs, which openly replaced the previously covert Helsinki Groups. Finally, it explores the pivotal
role played by transnational educational and exchange networks that shaped this critical aspect of the region's human rights landscape (educational exchanges with Western scholars, universities, and the regional cooperation under the auspices of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights).