Beyond the institutional fix? The potential of strategic litigation to target natural resource corruption

The document explores strategic litigation as a tool to bridge the gap between state-led anti-corruption efforts and environmental governance. It identifies three main trends: targeting corruption enforcement, improving NRM governance, and addressing transnational sustainability. While it can drive transparency and accountability, the author warns of risks including high costs, potential for abuse via SLAPP suits, and the challenge of enforcing court rulings in weak institutional settings.

• Strategic litigation is defined as legal action intended to enforce public rights or the general interest, aiming to solve specific disputes while establishing legal precedents for broader social and political reform.
• Strategic litigation can be used to strengthen anti-corruption enforcement by providing avenues for victims to seek remedies when state agencies fail to act, and by using freedom of information laws to force the disclosure of government and corporate data.
• In the realm of NRM governance, strategic litigation is employed to promote climate regulations, remedy biodiversity loss, and protect the rights of Indigenous peoples, often by challenging the non-enforcement of existing laws by states.
• Emerging transnational strategies include defending the rights of future generations (intergenerational responsibility), utilizing frameworks like REDD+, and applying 'wild law' concepts that grant nature equal rights to humans, as seen in Bolivia's constitution.
• Strategic litigation is most effective when integrated into a long-term, multi-tactic advocacy strategy that coordinates action across multiple jurisdictions to raise awareness and drive accountability.
• Significant risks and limitations include the potential for 'strategic lawsuits against public participation' (SLAPP suits) used to intimidate activists, the high financial cost of legal proceedings, and the risk that governments may simply refuse to comply with court judgments.

APA

Gargule, A. (2022). Beyond the institutional fix? The potential of strategic litigation to target natural resource corruption. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1336/62kojs40oe_TNRC_Strategic_Litigation_2022.pdf

Chicago

Gargule, Achiba. Beyond the institutional fix? The potential of strategic litigation to target natural resource corruption. WWF International, 2022. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1336/62kojs40oe_TNRC_Strategic_Litigation_2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gargule |first1=Achiba |title=Beyond the institutional fix? The potential of strategic litigation to target natural resource corruption |publisher=WWF International |date=February 2022 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1336/62kojs40oe_TNRC_Strategic_Litigation_2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gargule2022beyond, author = {Gargule, Achiba}, title = {{Beyond the institutional fix? The potential of strategic litigation to target natural resource corruption}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1336/62kojs40oe_TNRC_Strategic_Litigation_2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }