Supreme court wins, new climate lawsuit in Russia, how to stay safe at COP and violations of free speech for Palestine Solidarity
A lot is happening: Supreme court wins, new climate lawsuit in Russia, how to stay safe at COP and violations of free speech for Palestine Solidarity, read on to learn more!
The goal of this monthly bulletin is to gather some of the many court cases, calls for solidarity and resources, or trainings across Europe. Help us spread the word and ask your friends to sign up here.
NB: We know this is only a small selection, if you have any news, solidarity call out or resource you want us to include in the next bulletin – don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]
NEWS & COURT CASES
International
A global win: 60 countries ratify the Global Ocean Treaty. 60 countries have now ratified the Global Ocean Treaty, meaning we now have enough ratifications to bring this landmark treaty to life, allowing governments to create marine sanctuaries in international waters. This people-powered win shows just how much we can achieve when we come together to demand ocean protection. Read more
Netherlands
Last week, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that the lower courts wrongly kept criminal convictions for trespassing and disrupting a public meeting, and that such punishments went beyond the allowed limits on the right to protest under the ECHR. Here is a a translated excerpt from the ruling: “The right to demonstrate does not preclude a criminal conviction if such a conviction constitutes a restriction of that right that is permitted under the ECHR, namely: a restriction that is provided for by law, serves a legitimate purpose, and is necessary in a democratic society. “
Read the full court statement, and XR Netherlands Legal Team response on LinkedIn.
SOLIDARITY & CROWDFUNDING
Russia
Indigenous leaders, youth activists, human rights defenders and NGOs have filed a historic climate lawsuit against Russia. They risked everything – and now they need you. Sign the petition and learn more about it.
RESOURCES & EVENTS
Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef) and Arayara, our Brazilian-based partner, have launched the COP30 Legal Protection Center. This Center provides a variety of resources to help COP30 attendees prepare for and stay safe while at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, from November 10-21. They are also hosting a series of webinars to help inform COP30 attendees about how to stay safe traveling to and while in Belém. Live interpretation will be provided on the webinars being held on October 20th and 30th in Arabic, Portuguese, French and Spanish. You can RSVP for those webinars here.
Take a look at our new resource page – Legal in action! We are aiming to create a resource center on this topic, so if we have missed anything, please share your resources with us on: [email protected]
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) is publishing a new report on violations of fundamental freedoms committed in the context of the repression of the solidarity movement with Palestine. Conducted between October 2023 and September 2025, this research covers four countries: France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It highlights the growing criminalisation of expressions of solidarity with Palestine, in a context of polarisation and shrinking civic space. Read more
New UN report: Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience by the Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders available here
About Legally Green
Since autumn of 2022, the Movement Hub coordinates Legally Green – an informal network of lawyers who support activists across Europe and activist-led legal support groups. The network has over 100 members from over 60 organizations in more than 20 countries in Europe.
The network operates via mailing list and meets bi-monthly to share experience, discuss cases, trends, get help, learn from each other to increase our collective capacities to resist legal repressions. Contact [email protected] if you have any questions, or wish to join the network.
