Book: Public interest litigation and social change in South Africa: Strategies, tactics and lessons

In 2007, The Atlantic Philanthropies approached two legal practitioners, Gilbert Marcus SC and Steven Budlender, to conduct an evaluation of public interest litigation in South Africa, following The Atlantic Philanthropies’ substantial investment in the field. The resulting report – A strategic evaluation of public interest litigation in South Africa – was published in 2008.

This 2008 report has now evolved into a book entitled Public interest litigation and social change in South Africa: Strategies, tactics and lessons, with a further co-author, Nick Ferreira. The book is a revised and substantially expanded version of the initial study, providing new insights and covering post-2008 developments in the field of public interest litigation in South Africa.

The book will be relevant to anyone interested in how to best use rights, law and litigation to advance social change.

The complete book is available for download below, and the Executive summary provides a short distillation of the book’s main findings.