Our Work

ACT will essentially rely on two courses of action to meet its stated objectives. In the first place, professionals from the Center will provide legal assistance to victims who have suffered from a violation of their fundamental rights and who wish to take legal action at an international level. The second course of action over time will be to offer regular, high quality training courses and seminars.

Legal Assistance to Victims

ACT will submit complaints on behalf of victims who have incurred serious violations of their fundamental rights to the relevant international instances. By doing so its team of experts will act as representative of the victims. The workload in carrying out this role includes, at a minimum, an evaluation of the cases submitted, a recommendation on the most appropriate institution for the question at issue and, where necessary, the preparation of the relevant documentation and the follow up of the subsequent proceedings.

In order to perform this activity in the most efficient manner, the ACT team can rely on a network of NGO’s with which to collaborate in the field. These organisations will oversee and coordinate follow up between the national and international proceedings, provide first hand knowledge of the situation and legal framework of the defendant country and, if needed, can be the link with the victims.

Priority will be given to United Nations mechanisms, be it “treaty bodies” (Human Rights Committee, Committee Against Torture, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination etc), or through “Special Procedures” (special rapporteurs, working groups, independent experts).

However ACT also intends to file complaints with regional systems, starting with the European Court of Human Rights. The choice of the appropriate body to turn to will depend on the particular circumstances of each case.

>>> see ACT's cases

Given the statutory limitations of TRIAL, ACT will limit itself to handling those violations which can qualify as crimes under international criminal law (genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, enforced disappearances).

As a general rule, legal assistance from ACT will be provided free of charge.

Specialised Training

From 2008 onwards, ACT will hold seminars and other training programmes for lawyers, members of NGO’s, human rights supporters and others committed to providing assistance to victims. Such programs can take different formats based on the needs and educational background of the participants.

In carrying out this activity, ACT will preferably concentrate on training those persons living in countries where these skills are most frequently required, that is in those countries which are - or which were recently - the theatre of massive human rights violations.