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Strategic litigation impacting on harm reduction and human rights
Niamh Eastwood, Deputy Director and Head of Legal Services, Release
Abstract
Legal interventions, although often underplayed, have a critical role in harm reduction. Drug users can be subject to laws and decisions which contravene their human rights and further marginalize them as a group. Strategic litigation, or test case strategy, is the process of deliberately and proactively taking cases to court to establish a point of law which will have a positive outcome not only for the party bringing the case but for others too.
Identifying and pursuing test cases can be a challenging task when working with drug users as many find accessing legal advice difficult and often think their issues have no legal remedy. This session will consider how to improve access to legal services and look at potential legal challenges which could arise in respect of drug treatment, harm reduction and drug policy.
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Biography
Niamh is a non-practising barrister; she initially joined Release in 2002 as a legal advisor and was appointed Head of Legal Services in 2007. She is particularly interested in the issue of civil liberties and is concerned that the current trend of limiting rights impacts disproportionately on drug users. Niamh is interested in developing Release's legal capacity with a view to becoming more involved in public law as way of challenging unacceptable practices in the arenas of health, criminal justice and education. She was appointed Deputy Director of the organisation in December 2008.
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