An Introduction to Public Interest Litigation

What is public interest litigation?

Litigation is simply the process of taking legal action (a case) before the courts, or another judicial decision maker.

There isn’t one globally agreed upon definition of public interest litigation. PILS defines it as legal action:

taken on a human rights or equality issue of broad public concern
that provides the opportunity to clarify, develop, or change the law
which involves and seeks to improve the position of individuals who have been disadvantaged, overlooked, or mistreated
which, if successful, will advance human rights and equality and therefore benefit society as a whole

There are a number of different legal processes that an individual or organisation can pursue to try to change the law. This toolkit is designed to highlight well-known proceedings, like judicial review, and lesser-used options like bringing a matter before an ombudsman or filing a third party intervention.

The goal of this toolkit is to help you to identify the various tools at your disposal, determine what tool is most useful to you, based on your goals and resources, and to inform you of various mechanisms that exist to make pursuing legal action more accessible.

Does my case have a public interest element?

As you can see from above, there is no single criteria that defines what constitutes a public interest issue. The general principle is that the case will have an impact that will extend beyond the individual bringing the litigation. Here are some questions that might help you determine whether addressing the problem that you or the person that you are supporting are encountering could be in the public interest:

Are there other people in the same circumstances?
Is the law unclear?
Does the law unintentionally exclude or discriminate a disadvantaged or vulnerable group or community?
Is a public body interpreting the law in a way that seems unfair or inconsistent with its stated purpose?
Is there broad public concern about the law in question, its operation or its interpretation?

It is important to remember that not all public interest issues are best addressed through litigation. This toolkit will therefore also highlight alternatives to litigation which may be more suitable to achieve your goals, or meet the needs of the individual that you are supporting. Sometimes the right solution may require combining these alternatives with litigation. Once you have considered all of the options, you will be in a better position to determine the most appropriate course of action.

PILS' definition of public interest litigation

Legal action:

taken on a human rights or equality issue of broad public concern
that provides the opportunity to clarify, develop, or change the law
which involves and seeks to ameliorate the position of individuals who have been disadvantaged, overlooked, or mistreated
which, if successful, will advance human rights and equality and therefore benefit society as a whole

Identifying a public interest element

Ask yourself:

Are there other people in the same circumstances?
Is the law unclear?
Does the law unintentionally exclude or discriminate a disadvantaged or vulnerable group or community?
Is a public body interpreting the law in a way that seems unfair or inconsistent with its stated purpose?
Is there broad public concern about the law in question, its operation or its interpretation?