Civil Society Tribunal

This page identifies initiatives that express ecological jurisprudence through a decision by a citizen tribunal. A citizen tribunal is a civil society body functioning independently of state authorities that applies either recognized or novel law and policy to cases brought before it, often focusing on the violations of human rights, rights of indigenous peoples, rights of future generations, and rights of nature. Citizen tribunals’ decisions are not binding legally, but can have significant value in terms of legal and factual analysis and findings. Examples include the Permanent Peoples Tribunal, and the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature’s local, regional, state, and international Tribunals. Note that we will count one meeting/convening of a tribunal (e.g., the 2015 International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature or the 2016 Australian People’s Tribunal) as a single initiative, regardless of how many cases are addressed in that tribunal.