About GLAN
We work with affected communities to pursue innovative legal actions across borders to challenge states and other powerful actors involved in human rights violations and systemic injustice.
GLAN’s goal is to promote social change through strategic legal action. We seek to use the law in new and innovative ways to bring about legal, political, or social impact. Our strategies are diverse and include litigation in foreign and international courts. We seek more than success in a courtroom, and our work includes legal actions before administrative bodies and the dissemination of legal analyses. We believe that strategic legal action is most effective when it supports existing justice strategies, which is why we work collaboratively with an international network of civil society and grassroots organisations. We have four areas of focus: War and Occupation; Environmental and Economic Justice; Migration and Border Violence; Accountability and Supply Chains.
GLAN’s Most Notable Cases
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Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others
This case was heard by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on September 27th, 2023. The case is a challenge to 32 states, brought on behalf of six Portuguese children and young people. The complaint argues that the respondent states are failing to adhere to their obligations to adequately protect the applicants from the impacts of climate change during their lifetime.
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World Uyghur Congress v. Secretary of State for the Home Department & Ors [2023] EWHC 88 (Admin)
This case was brought in partnership with the World Uyghur Congress and challenged the decisions of three UK authorities not to investigate imports of cotton from the Xinjiang region of China, where atrocity crimes are being committed against the Uyghur population. The High Court found a “striking consensus… that there are clear and widespread abuses in the cotton industry in the XUAR” and confirmed that criminal conduct in a corporate supply chain can lead to criminal charges in the UK. Despite the important principles established, we lost at the High Court and have therefore appealed, which will be heard at the Court of Appeal in May 2024.
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Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) v. Secretary of State for International Trade [2023] EWHC 1343 (Admin)
In this case, we acted in partnership with the intervener, Yemeni organisation Mwatana for Human Rights. This case challenged the Secretary of States’ decision to grant export licences for arms sales to Saudi Arabia due to the likelihood that these weapons would be used to commit war crimes in Yemen. The High Court found in favour of the Secretary of State, but lawyers from GLAN are representing Mwatana to appeal this ruling to the Court of Appeal.
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Legal opinion on the treatment of China’s Uyghur population [2021]
GLAN, in partnership with the World Uyghur Congress and Uyghur Human Rights Project, obtained the first authoritative legal opinion to conclude that “there is a very credible case that acts carried out by the Chinese government against the Uyghur people in XUAR amount to crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide.” The opinion, primarily authored by Alison McDonald KC, had broad-reaching consequences for UK-China relations.
About Bellingcat
Bellingcat is an independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and journalists brought together by a passion for open source research.
Founded in 2014, we have pioneered the use of open source research methods to investigate a variety of subjects of public interest. These range from the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine to police violence in Colombia and the illegal wildlife trade in the UAE. Our research is regularly referenced by international media and has been cited by several courts and investigative missions.
We design and share verifiable methods of ethical digital investigation. By publishing walkthroughs to open source research methods and holding tailored training sessions on their use for journalists, human rights activists and members of the public, we’re broadening the scope and application of open source research.
With over 30 staff and contributors in more than 20 countries, we operate in a unique field where advanced technology, forensic research, journalism, transparency and accountability come together.
We believe in the need for collaboration and have partnered with news organisations across the globe. Likewise, Bellingcat’s Global Authentication Project (GAP) seeks to harness the power of the open source community by nurturing and encouraging a network of volunteer investigators. Our Justice & Accountability unit, meanwhile, seeks to demonstrate the viability of online open source information in judicial processes.
