The Real Impact of Impact Litigation

Title: 
The Real Impact of Impact Litigation
Journal Citation: 
31(1) FLORIDA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, 121-142 (2019)

This article explores impact litigation, an increasingly important tool for bringing about positive change for human rights, in a reproductive rights context. The author seeks to address a gap in the literature by proposing a mechanism through which human rights lawyers and other actors can measure the effectiveness of impact litigation at the individual, government, and general population levels. In order to do this, the author first provides background on the history and increasing role of impact litigation through U.N. mechanisms. She then uses a reproductive health decision by a U.N. treaty monitoring body, L.C. v Peru, as a case study through which to propose a set of criteria for measuring the effect of the case on L.C., the individual rights holder, the Peruvian government, and on the larger international community. The author ends by recognizing that impact litigation is only one part of a multifaceted strategy to ensuring that the actual outcome of a decision progresses women’s reproductive rights.