Laura Wennekes and Jelle Klaas first met when Laura was studying international law and political science, and Jelle was invited as a guest lecturer. Fast-forward several years when I talk to them about their roles at Dutch human rights law firm PILP and it’s obvious the learning now flows in both directions.
Jelle is PILP’s Executive Director and one of its four human rights lawyers. Describing Laura as “brilliant” in her role as Operational Director, he says she was instrumental in steering PILP’s transition into an independent organisation. PILP recently celebrated its tenth anniversary over the summer, but only became a solo entity in July 2023 having outgrown its status as a pilot project under the Dutch section of the International Commission of Jurists.
While Jelle helped launch PILP, he praises Laura, who joined the team four years ago, for making it what it is today. According to Jelle, "With Laura, we have been able to professionalise the organisation in ways that I would never have thought possible in the small amount of time we did."
Not wanting to accept all the credit, Laura highlights that PILP’s success is a team effort, saying, ”It is an honour to work with Jelle and the rest of the team to support the movements and communities in our client base the best we can.”
“Where does it hurt?”
PILP’s main function is to boost movements, activists and communities through strategic legal support. When starting out, Jelle began talking to other NGOs and civil society, asking "Where does it hurt? What causes are you fighting for? Could litigation be helpful?"
PILP initially found cases through outreach, but early high-profile legal victories solidified its reputation as a strategic litigator. Now, their services are sought after. One such win includes a case taken against the Dutch state, resulting in the ruling that the practice of ethnic profiling by border police was discriminatory and should be prohibited. In another significant victory, PILP was part of a coalition that helped secure the right to water for children following a verdict that water companies can’t disconnect the water from family homes.
Movement lawyering: when winning isn’t the most important outcome
PILP’s legal team cut its teeth in cases involving the right to protest, discrimination and racial profiling, but its scope isn’t limited to any particular set of issues. According to Laura, “Our mission revolves around providing other mission-driven organisations with access to the legal system.” When deciding what cases to take on, one of the main considerations is whether strategic litigation could create improvements in the future - an outcome, Jelle is quick to point out, which doesn’t necessarily depend on winning the case.
Conversations with organisations based in South Africa and the United States triggered this shift towards de-centring a legal victory. These discussions led PILP to conceptualise its strategic litigation as ‘movement lawyering’, a view which emphasises the leadership of the people affected by an issue. According to this approach, the ‘success’ of a case is based on its positive impact on a community or movement such as raising awareness or amplifying marginalised voices, and not necessarily a legal win.
PILP puts movement lawyering into practice by prioritising communication with their clients, a key step to building trust and understanding of what is important to them. Describing their work with the Roma Sinti Travellers Community in their emancipatory fight for human rights in the Netherlands, Jelle says,
“...to be able know what is a win for them, we need to be in touch with them, need to go their caravan sites, talk to them over and over again, and not decide as human rights lawyers we think this is a legal win."
Laura Wennekes and Jelle Klaas at PILP's 10th Anniversary Party
Uncovering AI’s discriminatory practices
As the use of AI becomes pervasive, its propensity to racially discriminate against minorities is a growing concern. This was the kernel at the heart of three recent cases PILP has taken against ING Bank, following revelations that transactions with foreign or ‘exotic’ names were being blocked. Under anti-terrorism or fraud laws, flagged account holders were asked to provide certain information or risk being dropped as bank clients.
PILP learnt that an automated process was put in place which linked transaction names, or similar-sounding names, to a sanction list, following which bank personnel would decide whether to block the transaction. PILP took the discrimination cases to the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (SIM). While one case was dropped, the other two were ruled in favour of PILP’s clients. According to SIM’s findings, the system in place by the bank indirectly discriminated based on race.
It remains to be seen if further legal steps are required to prompt ING to change its practices, but the favourable ruling alone holds immense meaning for the people affected. Declaring ING’s practices as discriminatory acknowledges the unjust treatment minorities in the Netherlands encounter daily and resists discrimination becoming normalised. Laura tells me,
"It is interesting to speak with the people involved about what this means for them, and how big it is to now at least hear described this institute and the discriminatory nature of these practices they encounter time and time again.”
A movement’s success is carried as much by symbolic victories as tangible change, a recipe for progress that PILP understands better than most.
More articles in the Meet Our Members series:
How Did A Mathematics Philosopher End Up Fighting for Prisoners' Rights?
From Activist Journalist to Co-Creating an Organisation Supporting Grassroots Movements
