Lawyers and Environmental Justice

As recently demonstrated in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland (application no. 53600/20), Carême v. France (no. 7189/21), and Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Others (no. 39371/20), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has become a significant forum for climate litigation and environmental justice. However, existing scholarship predominantly examines case law from doctrinal or normative perspectives. This paper shifts the focus to a key actor in ECtHR litigation: the lawyers representing human rights victims. It explores how these litigant lawyers facilitate access to the ECtHR for cases involving environmental justice. Addressing this broader question necessitates an examination of who these lawyers are (e.g., whether they are affiliated with NGOs or operate as individual practitioners) and how they select cases and applicants. These inquiries are framed within the context of legal mobilisation scholarship. Methodologically, the paper proposes an empirical analysis employing mixed methods, including a systematic review of ECtHR case law, examination of electronic archives from the Council of Europe, and semi-structured interviews with lawyers.