RE-SURE: Strengthening a Strategic Approach to Human Rights Protection in Croatia and Europe
The Centre for Peace Studies (CMS), in partnership with Zelena akcija (FoE Croatia), the Human Rights House Zagreb, the Office of the Ombudsperson, and PILnet, is implementing the two-year RE-SURE project – Reclaiming Equality through Strategic Use of Rights in Europe. The project aims to strengthen the capacities of civil society organisations, legal professionals and institutions to use strategic litigation to protect human rights and enforce rights guaranteed under European Union law.
Strategic litigation can be an important tool for addressing systemic violations of rights – not only in individual cases, but also as a means of fostering broader social and institutional change. However, civil society organisations and legal professionals often lack sufficient practical knowledge and resources to connect national legal proceedings with EU law mechanisms. RE-SURE responds to this need by developing practical guides, providing training, facilitating the exchange of experience, and connecting stakeholders from Croatia and other EU Member States.
The project focuses in particular on migration and asylum, environmental protection, freedom of expression and public participation, while non-discrimination is a cross-cutting theme throughout all project activities. As part of the project, practical strategic litigation guides will be developed to facilitate the use of national and European legal mechanisms, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the possibility of referring preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
An important component of the project will be the Strategic Litigation Laboratories – practical training sessions through which lawyers, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders will learn how to use strategic litigation in concrete cases. The laboratories will focus on migration and asylum, environmental protection, and freedom of expression and public participation, alongside dedicated training on advocacy and communication related to strategic litigation cases.
As part of the project, the Fifth National Survey on Attitudes, Awareness and Experiences of Discrimination in Croatia will also be conducted. The aim of the survey is to provide up-to-date and reliable data that can help civil society organisations, legal professionals and institutions identify systemic problems and develop more effective legal and advocacy strategies.
Special attention will also be devoted to SLAPP lawsuits – legal proceedings intended to intimidate or exhaust journalists, civil society organisations and other actors participating in public life. Through legal resources, training and the exchange of experience, the project will contribute to strengthening their protection.
One of the project's objectives is also to connect Croatian lawyers and organisations with European actors. The partnership with PILnet, which has many years of experience in connecting the public interest with the legal profession, will facilitate the transnational exchange of knowledge, experience and legal approaches. In this way, the project seeks to strengthen the European dimension of strategic litigation and enable the application of the tools developed in other EU Member States as well.
A Plenum, a multi-stakeholder advisory body, will also be involved in the implementation of the project. It will bring together representatives of the partner organisations, legal professionals, international experts, human rights defenders, and representatives of organisations working directly with affected communities. The Plenum will monitor project implementation, contribute to its quality and relevance, and participate in the development of a sustainability plan.
Donor and Project Value
The project is implemented under the European Union's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme, within the CERV-2025-CHAR-LITI call for proposals. The donor is the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), to which the European Commission has delegated the implementation of the programme.
The total estimated value of the project is EUR 261,880.36, while the maximum EU grant amount is EUR 235,692.34, representing 90% of the project's eligible costs.
Project duration: 24 months, from July 1st 2026 to June 30th 2028.
