Yakaré-Oulé (Nani) Jansen Reventlow is a

human rights lawyer International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

who specialises in

strategic litigation Strategic litigation, also known as impact litigation, is the practice of bringing lawsuits intended to effect societal change. Impact litigation cases may be class action lawsuits or individual claims with broader significance, and may rely on st ...

at the intersection of

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

, and technology. She is the founding director of Systemic Justice, which works to radically transform how the law works for communities fighting for

racial A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

, and

economic justice Justice in economics is a subcategory of welfare economics. It is a "set of moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions". Economic justice aims to create opportunities for every person to have a dignified, productive and creativ ...

. She previously founded and built Digital Freedom Fund, which advances

digital rights Digital rights are those human rights and legal rights that allow individuals to access, use, create, and publish digital media or to access and use computers, other electronic devices, and telecommunications networks. The concept is particular ...

in Europe through strategic litigation. She is an Associate Professor at the

Blavatnik School of Government The Blavatnik School of Government is a school of public policy founded in 2010 at the University of Oxford in England. The School was founded following a £75 million donation from a business magnate Leonard Blavatnik, supported by £26 million ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, an "Associate Tenant" at Doughty Street Chambers, and previously a Lecturer in Law at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. She is the recipient of various awards and honours, including Harvard Law School's "Women Inspiring Change" in 2020, and Oxford Internet Institute's Internet and Society award in 2018.

Career

Throughout her career, Jansen Reventlow has been responsible for several notable freedom of expression cases across national and international jurisdictions, including the first freedom of expression judgment from the

African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, also known simply as the African Court, is an international court established by member states of the African Union (AU) to implement provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights ...

and from the

East African Court of Justice , image = , imagesize = , caption = , motto = , established = 30 November 2001 , country = 6 member states of the East African Community , location = Arusha, Tanzania , coordinates ...

. From 2011 to 2016, she oversaw litigation practice at

Media Legal Defence Initiative Media Defence (registered company name: Media Legal Defense Initiative) is a non-governmental organization established in 2008 to provide legal assistance to journalists, citizen journalists and independent media institutions. It also supports trai ...

(MLDI), leading or advising in cases involving over 50 national jurisdictions and international forums such as the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

, the

Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR or IACtHR) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a huma ...

, the

UN Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...

, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Her standard-setting work seeking to decolonise the

field in Europe saw her listed on

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

’s 2021 list of visionary tech leaders in Europe.

Awards and honours

Jansen Reventlow has received multiple awards and honours, including: * Berkeley Law's "Stefan A. Riesenfeld Memorial Award" (2021) * Bits of Freedom's "Felipe Rodriguez Award" (2021) * Harvard Law School’s “Women Inspiring Change” honouree (2020) * Oxford Internet Institute Internet & Society Award (2018) * Law Society’s Excellence Award for Human Rights Lawyer of the Year (shortlist 2015) * Columbia University Global Freedom of Expression Prize for Excellence in Legal Services (2015)

Nomination for UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression

In June 2020 it was announced that Nani Jansen Reventlow was one of the four candidates for the position of UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. Other candidates were

Irene Khan Irene Zubaida Khan ( bn, আইরিন জোবায়দা খান; born 24 December 1956) is a Bangladeshi lawyer appointed as of August 2020 to be the United Nations Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion, the fir ...

, Fatou Jagne Senghore and

Agustina del Campo Agustina is a given name, a feminine version of Augustine. It is a name popular in Argentina, Indonesia, and Uruguay. It may refer to: * Agustina de Aragón (1786–1857), Spanish heroine * Agustina Bessa-Luís (1922-2019), Portuguese writer * Agu ...

References

External links

Systemic Justice

Digital Freedom Fund

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen Reventlow, Nani Human rights lawyers Digital rights Living people 1978 births