Legal updates: cases, pressure & solidarity

Across Europe and beyond, climate activism continues to face growing legal pressure from restricted access to information and intimidation lawsuits to ongoing court cases against activists.

At the same time, new legal actions, solidarity efforts, and global calls from the legal community are shaping the fight for climate justice.

Here’s a quick roundup of the latest developments, cases, and ways to get involved

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

Europe

ClientEarth has initiated legal proceedings against the European Commission. Following its decision not to provide access to the content of its decisions under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). Read more

Switzerland

Update on court case on the Credit Suisse Blockade in July 2019. The federal court in Switzerland acquitted the activists from trespassing, but stuck to the conviction for coercion. The activist will now apply at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and hand in the application by mid June. Stay tuned for more solidarity requests or potential to connect to others cases at ECHR

Read more in the (german) media article and the link to the judgement. 

Italy

New case of intimidation against climate activists! ENI’s lawyers served ReCommon with a request to initiate mandatory civil mediation for alleged defamation aggravated by the use of television and social media,arising from statements made by Eva Pastorelli over licences awarded to the fossil fuel multinational in Palestinian waters in her capacity as a representative of ReCommon. Press release in English. ReCommon post on Bluesky and X in English and media article in The Guardian

SOLIDARITY AND CROWDFUNDING 

• Five activists have been in pre-trial detention in Germany since September. They are accused of causing damage to a facility linked to Elbit Systems in Ulm. What can you do? You can share and amplify information, attend the trial in Stuttgart, or write them a letter! Read more & spread the word!

RESOURCES & EVENTS

• The 2026 European SLAPP Contest. Who will be crowned the worst legal bully? Learn more about here
• The Legal Foundations for Fossil Fuel Phaseout: An Open Letter More than 250 legal scholars, jurists, and practitioners from around the world have joined an open letter calling for governments to center international law in the transition away from fossil fuels. Grounded in the latest advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, the letter makes clear: phasing out oil, gas, and coal is not only a scientific necessity—it is a legal obligation. Read the letter

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.