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About PILP

PILP, formerly known as the Public Interest Litigation Project, is more than an ordinary law firm. It serves as the legal ally for a diverse group of stakeholders in the Netherlands, including NGOs, interest groups, movements, communities, activists, lawyers and academics. Together, they strive to promote human rights, strengthen the rule of law and create a more just world.

Evolution and specialization

PILP was founded in 2014 as a project of the Dutch Lawyers Committee for Human Rights to explore the possibilities for strategic litigation in the Netherlands. PILP is now recognized in the Netherlands as an expert in this field and has evolved in the field of Movement Lawyering. As of July 1, 2023, PILP operates as an independent foundation. For more information about the organization, click here.

Legal successes and victories

In recent years, PILP has achieved several legal victories in collaboration with various organizations, experts, groups and lawyers. Examples can be found in cases such as SyRI, Ethnic Profiling and numerous cases involving the right to demonstrate.

Non-profit and social recognition

PILP is non-profit and is recognized as an Institution for General Benefit (ANBI). Funding is received from funds and individuals, enabling PILP to assist clients pro bono.

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Our Dossiers

Right to water

Netherlands disconnects water from children’s homes In 2016, the Netherlands disconnected households’ water 7,500 times for non-payment, following a peak of more than 10,000 disconnections in 2015. Water companies do not check whether they also shut off children, but this does happen. Because their parents did not pay the bills, children do not have access […]

Banking discrimination

Muslims and people with names seen as “foreign” are being discriminated against by banks. PILP and Discriminatie.nl started proceedings at the Human Rights Board on February 29, 2024, for and with three citizens who feel discriminated against by their banks.

Right to protest

The right to protest is enshrined in international treaties, the Dutch Constitution and other legislation. PILP is committed to defending and entrenching this fundamental right in the Netherlands.

Ethnic profiling

What is ethnic profiling? Ethnic profiling involves the police checking people (in part) on the basis of their ethnicity without objective justification. Ethnic profiling leads to an impermissible form of discrimination and thus violates international human rights treaties. Moreover, ethnic profiling also damages trust in the police and is ineffective in fighting crime. In an […]

Travellers’ extinction policy

Roma, Sinti and travellers are the most disadvantaged and discriminated against population groups in Europe, according to the European Court of Human Rights. They have the right to live in a caravan, but there are not enough sites in the Netherlands due to years of active government policy. The waiting time for a pitch is […]

Islamophobia en surveillance

In October 2021, NRC revealed that at least 10 Dutch municipalities had ordered covert investigations into mosques and Islamic organizations in their cities. With money provided by the NCTV, they hired a private research agency, NTA, whose staff observed mosques without identifying themselves. The findings ended up in a secret report (“the NTA report”), detailing, […]

Long Covid at healthcare workers

In March 2020, the first lockdown in the Netherlands was announced. Among others, the hospitality industry, schools and daycare centers were closed. Already in the first few months of this lockdown, tens of thousands of corona infections were detected. The pressure on healthcare rose enormously, and workers from across the healthcare sector had to work […]

Top400

In 2015, the municipality of Amsterdam launched the “Top400,” a crime prevention program through which the municipality and chain partners structurally intervene in the lives of children and young adults. The Top400 follows on from 2011’s Top600, which focuses on young people previously convicted of a crime. The Top400 is a list of “high potential” […]

The right to housing

Housing and access to housing are important and topical issues in the Netherlands. Homelessness has doubled in 10 years, young people are forced to live with their parents for a long time, waiting lists for social housing are growing rapidly, and buying a house is not an option for most people because of rapidly rising […]

System Risk Indication (SyRI)

‘If the information collected by the police, the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security offices, the health care system and other agencies were to be gathered into a single file, the freedom of the individual would be seriously endangered. The file of private information is the emblem of the totalitarian state.’ – Baron Browne-Wilkinson, former […]

Statelessness

International protection of stateless people Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 12 million people are stateless. Stateless people possess no nationality and thus are not recognized as their nationals by any State in the world. Statelessness can have several causes, for example: gaps or inconsistencies in the nationality laws of countries, arbitrary, discriminatory denial […]

Big Tech platforms

The current online communication ecosystem is characterized by a number of very dominant Big Tech platforms and a tracking-based advertising industry that have their own agenda. This makes it harder for citizens, activists and civil society organizations to make their voices heard, hold authorities accountable and develop bold ideas. Freedom of communication is therefore under […]

Climate change

Climate change is currently at the center of many public discussions. Following the Paris Agreement, the government must make efforts to limit global warming. In the Urgenda case, the court ruled in 2018 that the State must fulfill the environmental agreements in international treaties, including by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by […]

Integration

Hardening integration policies The integration policies of European member states, including the Netherlands, have become increasingly strict in the last two decades. Migrants have to meet more and higher integration requirements before they are granted a residence permit. Family reunification of migrants of non-European origin is therefore becoming increasingly difficult. In her dissertation Conditional Belonging […]

Bill for the Intelligence and Security Services Act (Wiv)

More powers, less control Intelligence and security services are allowed to intercept the communications of large groups of people without those people being suspected of anything. The services can exchange this data with foreign services without looking at it first. The Dutch intelligence and security services may hack the devices of service providers and individuals […]

Our Dossiers

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PILP is the legal ally of civil society organizations, movements, communities, and activists dedicated to human rights. Your donation enables us to continue providing this service.