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Sustainability and the Rule of Law

Supporting policy, systemic legal change and public interest litigation

European Court of Human Rights Intervention Clinic

The ECtHR Intervention Clinic run by Dr Martin Husovec in collaboration with an NGO, the European Information Society Institute (EISi), regularly intervenes before ECtHR in important cases involving digital liberties. It provides a unique opportunity for LSE LLM students to get involved in pending cases and suggest to the Court how to interpret the law before it makes its decision. The third party’s interventions are often cited by the Strasbourg court in its decisions. Our team of students was shortlisted for best Team at the Attorney General and LawWorks Pro Bono Awards in May 2025.

Read more about previous cases here.

Sustainability Clinic

LSE Sustainability Clinic is led by Dr Marie Petersmann and focuses on three key themes:

  • Protection of nature and biodiversity
  • Sustainable finance and business
  • Energy and climate change

Students can choose to focus on different activities including:

  • Legal advice to individuals, community groups, and SMEs through our membership of the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF)
  • Intervention - for example, preparation of amicus briefs for litigation and filing of complaints before OECD Focal Points.
  • Policy - for example, making submissions to UN Special Rapporteur consultations on environmental and climate issues; engaging in policy brief development to inform regulatory frameworks; providing research and support to NGOs on a range of topics.
  • Campaigning, by participating in activities such as the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice; a worldwide initiative that works to connect legal clinics together in order to raise awareness for the climate emergency.

Policy Clinic

The Policy Clinic offers students the opportunity to work on real-world policy challenges with a focus on social justice. Working in small groups, students prepare written reports or presentations under supervision of a subject expert, in response to live issues raised by external partners.

Students collaborate across disciplines, drawing on the unique expertise of our academic community. The Clinic brings together students from law and other departments to explore complex policy questions and propose practical, research-informed solutions. Projects span a wide range of topics giving students valuable experience in policy analysis, communication, and advocacy.