What is Activist legal Support?

This site contains resources and information to help activist campaigns and legal workers provide effective activist legal support .

There are three core aspects of activist legal support; information, support and solidarity.

Information

It is vital that activists have access to accurate legal information about their rights and the consequences of their actions and activities. Providing clear and accurate legal information is best done by progressive lawyers but can be distributed by organisers or legal support teams.

Support

This website hopes to support activists and also to provide resources for campaigners and legal support teams to help develop effective activist legal support.

Activist legal support can include many things:

• Providing legal information;
• Legal briefings prior to actions;
• Activist legal training and workshops;
• Arrest support; 
• Support and solidarity tactics whilst in custody;
• Debriefing after actions;
• Debriefing after arrests ;
• Legal Support Teams ;
• Legal representation;
• Long-term court support ;
• Prison support.

Solidarity

Solidarity is looking after each other when facing the police or legal system. Legal Solidarity describes a set of activist tactics to support and protect people when they are being held in police custody, in jail or facing court.

Individual and collective tactics of non-cooperation can be used to protect targeted or vulnerable people in the campaign, meet demands and maintain the combined strength of activists after arrests occur.

Legal Solidarity tactics have been used effectively for decades in the civil rights, peace, environmental, and in the global justice movements in Australia.

Go to the Activist Legal Support section of this site for more information and resources.