Respect for housing rights and human rights should be the foundation of housing and homelessness policies. Sometimes, in order to ensure that rights are respected, organisations engage in strategic litigation.
Housing Rights Watch would like to use this website to gather information about strategic litigation to promote respect for housing rights across Europe.
Information
We've gathered information about successful strategic litigation campaigns or cases in Europe here on the website. For example, you can read about FEANTSA's collective complaints against France, Slovenia and The Netherlands here.
HRW partners in Hungary (The City is For All, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, etc.) successfully challenged a law that made sleeping rough illegal in Budapest in 2012. However, the Hungarian government went onto change the constitution and reduce the power of the constitutional court in a heavy-handed response to this challenge. HRW regularly reported on this story in our newsletter and you can follow the struggle on The City is For All's English-language blog.
We are also following issues in Spain (for example the PAH's campaign to change mortgage laws) and are eager for more examples. If you have any information to share, please contact: maria.jose.aldanas@feantsa.org
Advocacy & Networking
Housing Rights Watch is always interested in hearing about new cases and providing support. HRW can write letters of support, help connect NGOs with pro bono lawyers, share advice and information about international jurisprudence, etc. FEANTSA's Housing Rights Expert Group meets regularly and discusses strategic litigation options.
We work with partner NGOs at national level as well as other European NGO and institutional partners.
