HRLN
Encyclopedia
HRLN is a group of Indian lawyers working for social causes and bringing legal cases for disadvantaged sections of society to promote human rights
. It has worked on child rights
, disabilities rights
, rights of people living with HIV
/AIDS, prisoners rights
, refugee
rights, rights of indigenous peoples
, workers rights
, and rights of the minorities and people who have faced or are sexual assault
/violence.
legal advice
to indigenous litigants. Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) and the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights (IPT) are activities of the Socio-Legal Information Centre, whose mission is to protect the fundamental rights of people,to equip through professional training a new generation of public interest
lawyers and para-legals who are comfortable both in the world of law as well as in social movement
s, and who learn from the social movements to refine legal concepts and strategies, to work towards an increased awareness of rights as universal and indivisible, and their realisation as an immediate goal.
Its objectives are to articulate an alternative constitutional law
based on universal human values rather than property; to introduce a broader ideological mooring for legal work as part of an overall process to bring about social change
in which legal campaigns and social movements collaborate; to incorporate international human rights principles in Indian law
and, in turn, influence constitutional law in foreign jurisdictions through the development of innovative and path-breaking case law
in India; to build close links between legal networks in India and human rights law groups abroad, both in the development of law as well as programmatically; to campaign for reform of the legal system, particularly with respect to state funded legal aid
for the poor, so that the state takes more responsibility for legal services and allocates more resources for legal aid; to bring human rights law education in India
into the mainstream; and to build alliances between the judiciary and rights based initiatives to sensitise the judicial system
to a more inclusive understanding of human rights and to an increased awareness of human rights law and practices in different parts of the world.
Senior Advocate
, Supreme Court of India
Colin Gonsalves
is the Founder Director of HRLN. Leading activists, lawyers and social workers from all over Country ( Advocate Sheela Ramanathan, Advocate Dolma Bhutia, Advocate K.K. Roy, Advocate Rakesh Meibhoum, Advocate Sunil Mao, Advocate P.C. Tiwari, Deepika D'souza, Harsh Dobhal, Suresh Nautiyal, S.H. Iyer, Advocate Sandhya Raju and several others) constitute Human Rights Law Network and make it one of the most vibrant tradition of sustained and committed Human Rights Work in India.
and High Courts.
Legal Education- For law to be used for justice, self-reliance and liberation of self HRLN feels the need to spread human rights and legal education
, and organises seminars, workshops, training courses on a large scale for the common mass.
Advocacy- HRLN has been working to increase public awareness through research and dissemination of accurate information on violations and anti-poor policies. In crucial areas where adequate legislation is lacking or requires amendment, HRLN has been at the forefront of efforts to formulate laws and policies – such as against child sexual abuse
, against communal crimes, and for the right to food and work. HRLN's advocacy efforts encourage debates and discussions at the local, state, and national levels.
Investigations, Monitoring, and Crisis Response- HRLN Conducts fact-findings extensively, monitors and documents cases of violations and makes sure that these take the form of petitions in court.
Access to Justice and People's Tribunals- In 1993, HRLN organised the 'National Conference on Human Rights, Environment and the Law' where the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights ( IPT) was formed. The IPT investigations are led by retired judges of the High Courts and Supreme Court. It is a semi-autonomous association that works through People's Tribunals and Public Hearings to draw attention to human rights violations and issues concerning environmental justice
. The IPT has conducted over 30 tribunals since 1993 on issues such as police violence, the right to food, and housing rights. It provides a forum and an opportunity for those who do not have access to the regular courts to voice their grievances. The goal is to stop existing violations, highlight harmful legislation and prevent further atrocities from taking place. The very act of holding a people's tribunal challenges the notion that only the formal courts can adjudicate over matters that concern the republic of citizens or that the notion of justice is confined to those who have the means to exercise their rights.
Campaigns- are conducted at the grassroot level and a fine mixture of campaigns and litigations and their interplay takes place.
Solidarity- HRLN believes in giving support to all those agencies fighting for human rights worldwide and it looks at human rights from an international perspective.
Communications and Publications- HRLN has to its credit a lot of valuable publications,films and a library of its own.
HRLN extensively works on these issues and for the establishment of a social order
for the promotion of the welfare of the people where inequalities are minimized, adequate means of livelihood secured, control of resources distributed to subserve the common good, concentration of wealth
eliminated, the right to work and education provided for and so too public assistance in case of old age, sickness, disablement and want; and where the State raises the level of nutrition and standard of living
of the people and improves public health
. It is completely against Acts like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
, 1958 in India
and all such acts increasing the level of torture in the name of globalisation. The Organisation works for bringing in fundamental social change. Understanding the correlation between rights and the nature of violations, HRLN's response is not limited to any one issue. The organisation aims to maintain a balance between a sustained campaign for socio-legal reform on specific issues as well as crisis response.
Founder Director, Human Rights Law Network (HRLN)
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
A human rights litigator in India, Dr. Colin Gonsalves specializes in human rights protection, labour law and public interest law. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, Dr. Gonsalves started his career as a civil engineer but was drawn to the law through his work with the mill-workers’ union in Bombay. As such, he commenced formal legal study in 1979 and litigated his first case on behalf of 5,000 workers locked out of their jobs while still in law school. Upon graduation in 1983, Mr. Gonsalves co-founded the India Centre for Human Rights and Law in Bombay and developed it into a national network of over 200 lawyers and paralegals under the auspices of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN).
Since co-founding HRLN in 1989, Dr. Gonsalves and his colleagues have built the organization into India’s leading public interest law group, working at the intersection of law, advocacy and policy. Dr. Gonsalves strives to use the law as a shield to protect the human rights of the poor and of the marginalized communities in India. Over last two decades, he has played a prominent role in investigating, monitoring, and documenting human rights violations, generating “know your rights” material, and conducting training seminars and workshops for lawyers, activists, judges, and government officials including police and civic administrators.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. It has worked on child rights
Children's rights movement
The Children's Rights Movement is a historical and modern movement committed to the acknowledgment, expansion, and/or regression of the rights of children around the world...
, disabilities rights
Disability rights movement
The disability rights movement is the movement to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for people with disabilities. The specific goals and demands of the movement are: accessibility and safety in transportation, architecture, and the physical environment, equal opportunities in independent...
, rights of people living with HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS, prisoners rights
Prisoners' rights
The rights of civil and military prisoners are governed by both national and international law. International conventions include: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the United Nations' Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the European Committee for the...
, refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
rights, rights of indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
, workers rights
Labor rights
Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights having to do with labor relations between workers and their employers, usually obtained under labor and employment law. In general, these rights' debates have to do with negotiating workers' pay, benefits, and safe...
, and rights of the minorities and people who have faced or are sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
/violence.
History
HRLN was started in 1989 as a small group of lawyers, but it evolved into an organisation having twenty-eight branches across India. It provides legal support and pro-bonoPro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
legal advice
Legal advice
In the common law, legal advice is the giving of a formal opinion regarding the substance or procedure of the law by an officer of the court , ordinarily in exchange for financial or other tangible compensation...
to indigenous litigants. Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) and the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights (IPT) are activities of the Socio-Legal Information Centre, whose mission is to protect the fundamental rights of people,to equip through professional training a new generation of public interest
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
lawyers and para-legals who are comfortable both in the world of law as well as in social movement
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
s, and who learn from the social movements to refine legal concepts and strategies, to work towards an increased awareness of rights as universal and indivisible, and their realisation as an immediate goal.
Its objectives are to articulate an alternative constitutional law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
based on universal human values rather than property; to introduce a broader ideological mooring for legal work as part of an overall process to bring about social change
Social change
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
in which legal campaigns and social movements collaborate; to incorporate international human rights principles in Indian law
Indian law
Law of India refers to the system of law in modern India. It is largely based on English common law because of the long period of British colonial influence during the period of the British Raj. Much of contemporary Indian law shows substantial European and American influence. Various legislation...
and, in turn, influence constitutional law in foreign jurisdictions through the development of innovative and path-breaking case law
Case law
In law, case law is the set of reported judicial decisions of selected appellate courts and other courts of first instance which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents in a process known as stare decisis...
in India; to build close links between legal networks in India and human rights law groups abroad, both in the development of law as well as programmatically; to campaign for reform of the legal system, particularly with respect to state funded legal aid
Legal aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial.A number of...
for the poor, so that the state takes more responsibility for legal services and allocates more resources for legal aid; to bring human rights law education in India
Education in India
Education in India is provided by the public sector as well as the private sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Child education is compulsory. The Nalanda University was the oldest university-system of education in the world...
into the mainstream; and to build alliances between the judiciary and rights based initiatives to sensitise the judicial system
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
to a more inclusive understanding of human rights and to an increased awareness of human rights law and practices in different parts of the world.
Senior Advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
, Supreme Court of India
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
Colin Gonsalves
Colin Gonsalves
Colin Gonsalves is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He is also the Founder Director of Human Rights Law Network . A pioneer in the field of public interest litigation in India, he has successfully brought a number of cases dealing with economic, social and cultural rights...
is the Founder Director of HRLN. Leading activists, lawyers and social workers from all over Country ( Advocate Sheela Ramanathan, Advocate Dolma Bhutia, Advocate K.K. Roy, Advocate Rakesh Meibhoum, Advocate Sunil Mao, Advocate P.C. Tiwari, Deepika D'souza, Harsh Dobhal, Suresh Nautiyal, S.H. Iyer, Advocate Sandhya Raju and several others) constitute Human Rights Law Network and make it one of the most vibrant tradition of sustained and committed Human Rights Work in India.
Strategies
Legal Aid and Public Interest Litigation- Human Rights and Law Network trains its lawyers and orients them. Lawyers of HRLN take up cases in the lower courts as well as the Supreme CourtsSupreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
and High Courts.
Legal Education- For law to be used for justice, self-reliance and liberation of self HRLN feels the need to spread human rights and legal education
Legal education
Legal education is the education of individuals who intend to become legal professionals or those who simply intend to use their law degree to some end, either related to law or business...
, and organises seminars, workshops, training courses on a large scale for the common mass.
Advocacy- HRLN has been working to increase public awareness through research and dissemination of accurate information on violations and anti-poor policies. In crucial areas where adequate legislation is lacking or requires amendment, HRLN has been at the forefront of efforts to formulate laws and policies – such as against child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
, against communal crimes, and for the right to food and work. HRLN's advocacy efforts encourage debates and discussions at the local, state, and national levels.
Investigations, Monitoring, and Crisis Response- HRLN Conducts fact-findings extensively, monitors and documents cases of violations and makes sure that these take the form of petitions in court.
Access to Justice and People's Tribunals- In 1993, HRLN organised the 'National Conference on Human Rights, Environment and the Law' where the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights ( IPT) was formed. The IPT investigations are led by retired judges of the High Courts and Supreme Court. It is a semi-autonomous association that works through People's Tribunals and Public Hearings to draw attention to human rights violations and issues concerning environmental justice
Environmental justice
Environmental justice is "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." In the words of Bunyan Bryant,...
. The IPT has conducted over 30 tribunals since 1993 on issues such as police violence, the right to food, and housing rights. It provides a forum and an opportunity for those who do not have access to the regular courts to voice their grievances. The goal is to stop existing violations, highlight harmful legislation and prevent further atrocities from taking place. The very act of holding a people's tribunal challenges the notion that only the formal courts can adjudicate over matters that concern the republic of citizens or that the notion of justice is confined to those who have the means to exercise their rights.
Campaigns- are conducted at the grassroot level and a fine mixture of campaigns and litigations and their interplay takes place.
Solidarity- HRLN believes in giving support to all those agencies fighting for human rights worldwide and it looks at human rights from an international perspective.
Communications and Publications- HRLN has to its credit a lot of valuable publications,films and a library of its own.
Issues
- Child Rights
- Criminal Justice
- Dalit Rights
- Disability Rights
- Emergency/Disaster
- Environmental Justice
- HIV/AIDS
- Housing Rights
- Labour Rights
- Refugee Rights
- Right to Food
- SecularismSecularismSecularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
and Peace - Trafficking
- Women’s Justice
HRLN extensively works on these issues and for the establishment of a social order
Social order
Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
for the promotion of the welfare of the people where inequalities are minimized, adequate means of livelihood secured, control of resources distributed to subserve the common good, concentration of wealth
Distribution of wealth
The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It differs from the distribution of income in that it looks at the distribution of ownership of the assets in a society, rather than the current income of members of that society.-Definition of...
eliminated, the right to work and education provided for and so too public assistance in case of old age, sickness, disablement and want; and where the State raises the level of nutrition and standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
of the people and improves public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
. It is completely against Acts like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958
The Armed Forces Act , was passed on September 11, 1958, by the Parliament of India. It conferred special powers upon armed forces in what the act calls "disturbed areas" in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura...
, 1958 in India
1958 in India
Events in the year 1958 in the Republic of India.-Incumbents:* President of India – Rajendra Prasad* Prime Minister of India – Jawaharlal Nehru-Events:*11 September - The Armed Forces Act is passed by the Parliament.-Births:...
and all such acts increasing the level of torture in the name of globalisation. The Organisation works for bringing in fundamental social change. Understanding the correlation between rights and the nature of violations, HRLN's response is not limited to any one issue. The organisation aims to maintain a balance between a sustained campaign for socio-legal reform on specific issues as well as crisis response.
Founder Director
Dr COLIN GONSALVESFounder Director, Human Rights Law Network (HRLN)
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
A human rights litigator in India, Dr. Colin Gonsalves specializes in human rights protection, labour law and public interest law. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, Dr. Gonsalves started his career as a civil engineer but was drawn to the law through his work with the mill-workers’ union in Bombay. As such, he commenced formal legal study in 1979 and litigated his first case on behalf of 5,000 workers locked out of their jobs while still in law school. Upon graduation in 1983, Mr. Gonsalves co-founded the India Centre for Human Rights and Law in Bombay and developed it into a national network of over 200 lawyers and paralegals under the auspices of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN).
Since co-founding HRLN in 1989, Dr. Gonsalves and his colleagues have built the organization into India’s leading public interest law group, working at the intersection of law, advocacy and policy. Dr. Gonsalves strives to use the law as a shield to protect the human rights of the poor and of the marginalized communities in India. Over last two decades, he has played a prominent role in investigating, monitoring, and documenting human rights violations, generating “know your rights” material, and conducting training seminars and workshops for lawyers, activists, judges, and government officials including police and civic administrators.