European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental human rights organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 2007 by German civil rights lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck together with other human rights lawyers, it seeks to enforce rights recognized in international human rights instruments, national constitutions and related bodies of law through legal action. Rather than operating as a conventional service provider or campaigning brand, ECCHR develops and supports strategic litigation intended to establish responsibility for grave abuses and to expose the political, economic and institutional structures that enable them. The organization works with affected people, local and international partner organizations, lawyers, researchers, artists and investigative groups. Its cases may be pursued before domestic courts, European institutions or international legal mechanisms, depending on the facts and available jurisdiction. ECCHR combines litigation with factual investigation, legal research, advocacy, public education and coordination among lawyers and civil-society groups. Its stated approach is power-critical: individual violations are examined in relation to broader financial, military, political and social interests. ECCHR's principal areas of work include international crimes and accountability, migration, business and human rights, and critical approaches to legal intervention. In its international-crimes work, it has addressed alleged war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity connected with conflicts and authoritarian rule in countries including Syria, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Argentina, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chile. It has also worked on alleged abuses associated with counter-terrorism operations by the United States, United Kingdom and their allies, including detention, interrogation and drone-strike practices in places such as Guantánamo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Another strand concerns corporate and institutional responsibility for abuses in conflict zones and authoritarian states, as well as historical accountability for regimes such as Argentina's dictatorship and the Colonia Dignidad complex in Chile. Through its Migration program, ECCHR challenges aspects of European asylum and refugee policy, including alleged unlawful pushbacks at the European Union's external borders. Its Business and Human Rights program examines corporate conduct in conflict zones and authoritarian contexts, labor conditions in global supply chains, and business activities affecting land, livelihoods and economic and social rights. Examples of sectors and locations discussed in its work include agriculture and textiles in Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and Qatar, and land-related disputes in Zimbabwe and Peru. The organization also maintains an Institute for Legal Intervention, which links legal practice with critical legal theory and academic, activist and artistic collaboration. It presents law both as an expression of unequal power relations and as a possible instrument of emancipation. Its Critical Legal Training program provides instruction and discussion in international human rights law for activists and lawyers. According to the supplied reference material, the program had involved approximately 400 human rights lawyers from more than 40 countries since 2008. ECCHR became particularly visible in Germany in 2017 after submitting a criminal complaint to the German federal prosecutor concerning alleged torture involvement by CIA official Gina Haspel. In 2021, it filed a case concerning alleged crimes against humanity by five Chechen officials. More recent work described in the reference material includes litigation related to the effects of the 2022 Pakistan floods and proceedings challenging German arms exports to Israel. ECCHR's offices are located in a former soap factory in Berlin shared with organizations including Forensic Architecture and other investigative and human rights groups.

ECCHR was established in Berlin in 2007 by Wolfgang Kaleck and a group of human rights lawyers who wanted to strengthen the use of law against serious human rights violations. Its founding concept was to use national, European and international legal systems not only to obtain remedies in individual cases, but also to clarify responsibility and challenge structures of power. The organization therefore developed as a litigation and legal-advocacy center rather than as a conventional humanitarian organization. From its early work onward, ECCHR concentrated on strategic cases involving international crimes, state violence and corporate responsibility. Its international-crimes and accountability work has addressed allegations of war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity in several regions, including Syria, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Argentina, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chile. It has also examined alleged abuses arising from counter-terrorism operations, including detention and interrogation practices connected with Guantánamo, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as questions concerning drone warfare and the responsibility of states and international institutions. A further historical strand concerns accountability for dictatorships and other long-running systems of abuse. ECCHR has worked on cases involving Argentina and Chile, including the Colonia Dignidad complex, and has sought to connect victims and local partners with courts capable of examining crimes committed across borders. Its method generally combines legal submissions with evidence gathering, research, public communication and cooperation with lawyers and organizations in affected countries. Migration became another central field of activity. Through strategic case work, ECCHR has challenged European asylum and refugee policies and alleged unlawful pushbacks at the European Union's external borders. The organization has treated migration litigation as a means of examining the legal consequences of border-control practices and the distribution of responsibility among national governments and European institutions. ECCHR's Business and Human Rights program expanded the organization's focus beyond direct state conduct. It examines the role of companies operating in conflict zones or authoritarian settings, labor conditions in global supply chains, and commercial activities that affect land, livelihoods and economic and social rights. The program has considered alleged abuses in sectors including agriculture and textiles and in countries such as Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Qatar, Zimbabwe and Peru. This work reflects ECCHR's view that corporate structures and commercial relationships can contribute to, facilitate or profit from human rights violations. The organization gained broader public attention in Germany in 2017 after filing a criminal complaint with the federal prosecutor concerning alleged torture involvement by Gina Haspel, then deputy director of the CIA. In 2021 it filed a case against five Chechen officials concerning alleged crimes against humanity. These actions illustrated its use of domestic criminal law and universal-jurisdiction mechanisms to pursue accountability for conduct occurring outside Germany. Alongside litigation, ECCHR established an Institute for Legal Intervention focused on critical legal theory and practice. The institute collaborates with researchers, universities, activists and artists and treats law as both a mechanism that can reproduce unequal power relations and a possible tool for social transformation. Its Critical Legal Training program has provided a forum for lawyers and activists to study international human rights law and to develop litigation strategies; the supplied reference material states that approximately 400 lawyers from more than 40 countries had participated as volunteers or trainees since 2008. ECCHR's Berlin offices are located in a former soap factory shared with Forensic Architecture and other investigative and human rights organizations. In more recent cases described in the reference material, ECCHR worked with Pakistani civil-society groups on a damages action related to the effects of the 2022 floods and supported a constitutional complaint seeking to stop German arms exports to Israel. The latter case was later rejected for lack of jurisdiction, with the court reportedly distinguishing between the government's duty to consider international humanitarian law and an individual's ability to compel a specific export-control decision.

• 2025

  Pakistan flood damages litigation

  [2]European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights official websiteecchr.eu

  ECCHR works with Pakistani partner organizations on a damages claim involving alleged corporate responsibility for harms linked to the 2022 floods.

• 2025

  Constitutional challenge to German arms exports

  [2]European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights official websiteecchr.eu

  ECCHR supports a complaint seeking to prevent the export of Renk tank gearboxes from Germany to Israel.

• 2021

  Case against five Chechen officials

  [1]European Center for Constitutional and Human Rightsen.wikipedia.org

  The organization files a case concerning alleged crimes against humanity by five Chechen officials.

• 2017

  Complaint concerning alleged CIA torture

  [1]European Center for Constitutional and Human Rightsen.wikipedia.org

  ECCHR files a criminal complaint with German federal prosecutors concerning alleged torture involvement by Gina Haspel.

• 2008

  Critical Legal Training begins

  [1]European Center for Constitutional and Human Rightsen.wikipedia.org

  ECCHR develops a training and exchange platform for human rights lawyers and activists focused on international law and critical legal analysis.

• 2007

  ECCHR is founded in Berlin

  [1]European Center for Constitutional and Human Rightsen.wikipedia.org

  Wolfgang Kaleck and other human rights lawyers establish the organization to pursue human rights accountability through legal means.

A power-critical, litigation-centered human rights organization that seeks to hold states, security institutions and corporations accountable through domestic, European and international law.

• Legal advocacy · 2007

  Strategic litigation

  ECCHR develops and supports cases before national, European and international bodies with the aim of establishing legal responsibility for serious human rights violations and producing broader changes in law, policy or public understanding. Cases may concern state officials, military actors, border authorities, corporations or other non-state participants.

• Professional education · 2008

  Critical Legal Training

  A training and exchange program that links the theory and practice of international human rights law. It is intended for lawyers and activists and emphasizes critical analysis of legal systems, power relations, evidence and litigation strategy.

• Research and advocacy

  Institute for Legal Intervention

  The institute connects legal practice with critical legal theory and collaborates with academic, activist and artistic partners. Its work explores how law can reproduce domination while also creating opportunities for social and political intervention.

• 2021

  Case concerning alleged crimes against humanity in Chechnya

  ECCHR brought a case against five Chechen officials over alleged crimes against humanity.

  Source

• 2017

  Criminal complaint concerning alleged CIA torture

  ECCHR filed a complaint concerning alleged involvement by Gina Haspel in torture. The matter concerned alleged conduct by a foreign intelligence official and was an accountability action by ECCHR, not an allegation that the organization itself had engaged in misconduct.

  Source

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• 2025

  Pursue damages claim over Pakistan flood-related harmOther

  Background

  ECCHR and Pakistani partner organizations linked alleged damage to farms from the 2022 floods with questions about corporate responsibility for climate change.

  Action taken

  The partners pursued legal action against German companies RWE and Heidelberg Materials.

  Source

• 2025

  Challenge German arms exports to IsraelStrategy

  Background

  A Palestinian plaintiff argued that Germany's authorization of exports of Renk tank gearboxes to Israel violated duties connected with protection of his right to life.

  Action taken

  ECCHR supported a complaint before Germany's Federal Constitutional Court seeking to prevent the delivery.

  Aftermath

  The court later stated that it was not competent to hear the case and that, although international humanitarian law must be considered in arms-export decisions, there was no legally enforceable individual right to a particular government measure.

  Source

1. 1European Center for Constitutional and Human Rightsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights official websiteecchr.eu