DigiRISE
The Developing Information, Guidance, and Interconnectedness for (Charter) Rights Integration in Strategies for Enforcement (digiRISE) project aims to increase awareness of the potential of the EU Charter of fundamental rights in the defense and protection of digital rights, to conduct capacity building, and to strengthen the knowledge and ability of different stakeholders in enforcing digital rights using strategic litigation.
Which actors is this project addressed to?
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is an essential legal instrument in the protection of individuals’ rights, including within the digital sphere. However, research has shown that the Charter is not used to its full potential to protect and promote digital rights, and that awareness of the Charter and the means available for its enforcement is low amongst individuals, lawyers, and civil society organizations (CSOs). There is an urgent need, therefore, for targeted and case-specific evidence, awareness raising and training on the Charter’s potential to protect digital rights and the most effective ways to enforce these protections, specifically through strategic litigation. Increased collaboration between rights defenders, legal professionals, CSOs and independent human rights bodies at national and EU levels is also crucial to create real and long-lasting change.
The digiRISE project will create, among other activities, a host of publicly available resources and materials intended to be used by key actors for internal and external training purposes. The project will also develop easily accessible information on the connections between Charter rights and digital rights and will produce litigation strategies that rely on the Charter to protect digital rights.
What are the primary objectives of DigiRISE?
Raise awareness of the Charter's relevance for protecting digital rights
In response to the need for more case specific training on the application of the Charter, the first objective is to ensure that CSOs, national human rights institutions (NHRIs), and others have access to case-specific information about Charter rights and the different ways in which they can apply in the digital sphere.
Improve knowledge of judicial pathways to enforce digital Charter rights
The second objective is to ensure that CSOs, NHRIs and others have access to detailed information about available judicial pathways for strategic litigation to enforce digital Charter rights within different national jurisdictions and at the EU level. In this context, the project will explore already existing judicial pathways within adjacent legal frameworks (for example, consumer protection law, equality law, etc.) rather than focusing solely on remedies included in those laws and regulations perceived as specifically regulating the digital sphere.
Promote the use of collective redress mechanisms to protect digital Charter rights
The third objective is to ensure that CSOs, NHRIs and other relevant actors have access to detailed information about available collective redress mechanisms for strategic litigation to enforce digital Charter rights within different jurisdictions at also at the EU level.
Improve collaboration between institutional stakeholders on digital rights enforcement
The final objective is to provide CSOs, NHRIs and others with the opportunity for mutual learning, exchange of good practices, and development of collaborative working and learning methods on Charter related issues.
Digital Rights are Charter Rights Essay Series
Digital Rights are Charter Rights is an essay series which articulates how digital rights are Charter rights. With this essay series, we bring a wide range of EU Charter experts to the foreground of digital rights discourse. We invited a range of individuals with expertise on European Charter rights and digital rights to produce essays showcasing how twelve different Charter rights are also digital rights. Each essay examines a provision of the Charter and details how it applies and is relevant to digital and networked environments.
Digital Rights are Charter Rights Speaker Series
DFF‘s fourth Speaker Series brought to the foreground specific cases where the EU Charter was utilised to protect digital rights at national, cross-jurisdictional or EU level. This series of webinars also showcased both the different contexts in which digital rights violations can arise and the different ways in which strategic litigation can be used to challenge those violations.
Challenging Racist Digital Technologies
In this session, we discussed how digital technologies are developed using race as a factor to systematically discriminate and oppress individuals and/or populations. We highlighted collective harm and structural inequality suffered as a component that unevenly distributes vulnerability and explored how the EU Charter has been used to challenge these practices.
Countering Discriminatory e-proctoring Systems
In this session, we explored how the EU Charter right to non-discrimination can be (and has been) used to fight back against discriminatory e-proctoring systems.
During this exclusive three-day consultation and feedback workshop, litigators and collective redress experts from diverse jurisdictions will converge. Together, we will delve into strategic discussions on using collective redress mechanisms to advance digital and Charter rights litigation.
This workshop is a crucial component of the digiRISE project, and we are offering it as an invite-only platform for collaborative engagement. If you’re keen to participate, kindly contact Alexandra at alexandra@digitalfreedomfund.org to express your interest.
The first DFF digital rights virtual drop-in law clinic is ongoing this March and April 2024. The clinic will host sixteen sessions during which successful applicants will have the opportunity to interact with digital rights strategic litigation experts from across Europe.
The objectives of this drop-in clinic are to provide beneficiary organisations with detailed and case-specific information on digital rights and to enable them to identify when and to what extent Charter rights apply in the digital sphere and how they can be relied upon in strategic litigation.
Read more on our blog:
We are launching the first DFF digital rights virtual law clinic
The first DFF digital rights virtual drop-in law clinic is taking place in March and April 2024. The clinic will host sixteen sessions during which
Best practices for using the EU Charter in digital rights litigation workshop
Our task is to make trouble, to stir up potent response to devastating events, as well as to settle troubled waters and rebuild
Leveraging the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights for digital rights strategic litigation
Since 1st December 2009, the European Union has its own written, legally binding Bill of Rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
“Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CERV Programme. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”
digiRISE is funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme. If you have any further comments or questions, you can write to us at alexandra@digitalfreedomfund.org.