About GFF

Strategic litigation is an indispensable instrument for the targeted enforcement of human and civil rights. While it has been successfully employed for decades by our US partner organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, it is still hardly used in Germany. However, precedent also plays a crucial role with the German Federal Constitutional Court and the European courts.

With its partners, GFF goes to court to protect human and civil rights in Germany and Europe.

Three elements of our work are crucial for our success:

• a long-term strategy for civil and human rights,
• a careful selection of our cases in light of this strategy and
• the right plaintiffs.

A State that Breaks the Law Cannot Protect it

GFF pursues strategic litigtion with a clear focus: We strengthen civil and human rights against state intrusion.

For example, GFF defends the right to privacy, freedom of information and the freedom of the press against unjustified interference. To that end, it brings suitable plaintiffs in contact with excellent legal experts in order to jointly bring rights violations to court.

At the same time, as an NGO, GFF is working to establish a durable structure in order to be able to also apply the instrument of strategic litigation to other rights, such as freedom from discrimination.

Proceeding with a Plan, Reliability and Staying Power

“Big” cases need to be carefully built—this requires the knowhow and expertise of specialized lawyers and clear criteria for selecting cases, plaintiffs and courts. Such cases need time and therefore also the type of long-term structures that GFF is establishing, building an office for litigation, public relations work and fundraising.

GFF is the organization for substainably successful strategic litigation on civil rights in Germany. In order to be efficient and effective, to join know-how and forces, GFF works closely with a network of established NGOs, associations and activists. We bring together actors for human rights at the European level and work with especially experienced teams from the United States.

Raising Awareness

GFF is pioneering strategic litigation for civil rights in Germany. Therefore, it is part of our strategy to raise broad awareness for this topic. In the media, GFF promotes reporting that is correct on the facts and gives civil rights the center stage they deserve.

This requires a close network and constructive engagement both with big media players and with specialized editorial offices and organizations such as  Netzpolitik.org, Reporters Without Borders and Chaos Computer Club.

Every Case Can Be a Success for Civil Rights

Winning a case is an obvious factor for success. But risky cases, too, can carry opportunities for human and civil rights. Previous losses can be an important basis for later success in higher instances. Moreover, every case—whatever the outcome—is an opportunity to engage the public on human rights issues, to inform citizens via the media and to convince them of the importance of the issue. Even spectacular defeats for civil rights can lay the ground for progress, if they are accompanied by careful public relations work.

Taking these factors into account, GFF strategically selects its cases, plaintiffs and partners and supports them through legal expertise and active, information oriented campaigning. This approach guarantees that the case not only addresses isolated legal issues, but that it has a sustainable effect for human and civil rights both at the legal and at the societal level.

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Litigating to Protect Rights: Our Cases

GFF’s cases focus on the protection of privacy, freedom of information and freedom of the press against state intrusion. GFF is also committed to equality and therefore to combating any form of discrimination, especially gender discrimination and discrimination against minorities such as handicapped people and refugees.

• Constitutional complaint against surveillance under the 2016 BND law
• Constitutional complaint against strategic mass surveillance under the so-called “G 10” Act
• Support of strategically relevant transparency law suits
• Constitutional complaint against unduly strict requirements in the Transparency Act of Rhineland-Palatinate
• Constitutional complaint against an anti-whistleblower provision in the Criminal Code
• Support of a female journalist working with the German public broadcaster ZDF in her Equal Pay lawsuit
• Constitutional complaint against surveillance authorities of the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution 
• Constitutional complaint against the large-scale use of spyware by the police
• Amicus Curiae Brief to the US Surpreme Court in United States of America v. Microsoft
• Support of a gynecologist in her lawsuit under paragraph 219a of the Criminal Code prohibiting doctors from informing about abortion services
• Constitutional Complaint against discrimination of the mentally ill
• Amicus Curiae Brief to the Federal Administrative Court regarding the banning of the Internet platform linskunten.indymedia
• Constitutional complaints against the excessive expansion of police powers in police laws of several German states, including BayPAG (Bavaria)
• Lawsuit against the Federal Bar Association over security deficiencies in beA, a mandatory electronic mailbox system for attorneys
• Constitutional complaint against the automated retrieval of biometric passport photographs
• Support of an environmental activist in her lawsuit to acquire information on surveillance activities conducted by the police of Lower-Saxony against her
• Emergency appeal against overly restrictive decree of the German Federal Police regarding the carrying of everyday objects
• Constitutional complaint against transmission of plain data of all citizens for test run of 2021 census
• Support of Hermann Theisen, peace activist facing criminal prosecution over his call for whistleblowing directed against illegal arms exports

For further information on our cases, please visit our German site or contact as at info@freiheitsrechte.org.

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The GFF Team

Ulf Buermeyer is President of GFF and a judge in criminal cases at the Berlin Superior Court. He holds an LL.M. from Columbia Law School and a PhD from the University of Frankfurt/Main. He is a fellow of the Centre for Internet and Human Rights (CIHR) at Europa-Universität Viadrina (Frankfurt/Oder). His scholarly work focuses on constitutional law, especially the freedom of information and telecommunication and control of personal data, and on criminal law. His PhD thesis dealt with informational self-determination in correctional facilities. Together with journalist Philip Banse he hosts a weekly podcast on politics, “Lage der Nation” (State of the Nation).

Nora Markard is Vice President of GFF and a Junior Professor for Public and International Law and Global Constitutionalism at the University of Hamburg. She studied Law and International Relations in Berlin, Paris and London and was a visiting fellow at the University of Michigan and at Columbia Law School. She holds a PhD from Humboldt University Berlin and an MA from King’s College London. She has published widely on international and constitutional law issues, her PhD on war refugees won the 2012 Humboldt prize. She is a co-founder of the Humboldt Law Clinic Human and Fundamental Rights and the director of the Refugee Law Clinic Hamburg.

Malte Spitz is GFF’s Secretary General and a writer, civil rights activist, politician and a consultant on data protection. In his 2014 book “Was macht ihr mit meinen Daten?” (“What are you doing with my data?”), he investigated the way public agencies and corporations mine private data. He is a member of several Green party committees and spokesman of the federal working group on Media and Internet Policy. His political activism covers issues such as media and internet policy and civil rights. He is actively involved in international Green networks and speaks on data protection, digital change in society and the economy as well as internet policy.

Boris Burghardt is member oft he GFF board and visiting professor for criminal law at the University of Hamburg. He studied law in Vienna, Berlin and Salamanca. He received his habilitation at the Humboldt University of Berlin, after serving several years as research assistant of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Werle. His research focus is German and International criminal law, with special interest in law philosophy and contemporary legal history. He is member of the „Arbeitskreis Völkerstrafrecht“ and of the Association Internationale de Droit Pénale.

Dr. Bijan Moini, M.A., is an attorney (Rechtsanwalt) and GFF’s legal counsel. He studied law and political science in Munich and Paris and completed internships in Singapore, Antananarivo and Beijing. He later received his doctor’s degree with a thesis on the constitutionality of sex offender registries, supervised by Hans-Jürgen Papier. After completing his legal clerkship in Berlin and Hong Kong, he worked for three years as a lawyer in a Berlin-based law firm focused on commercial law and litigation, at which he also supported the set-up of a pro bono asylum law practice. After quitting his job he wrote a novel and started supporting the GFF on a voluntary basis.

Anna Livia Mattes (Twitter) is Head of Fundraising and Office Manager at GFF. She studied philosophy and political science in Tübingen and Palermo. Anna has worked for several clubs and associations in various functions and accompanied them in the development and professionalization process – especially in event management, membership structure and internal communication. Most recently, she worked for the association TERRE DES FEMMES and for the German Debating Society.

Lea Beckmann is a fully qualified lawyer and joined the GFF legal team in 2018. She is responsible for the coordination of and substantive work on the procedures of GFF. After studying law in Heidelberg, Strasbourg and Berlin, she moved to Tunis for a year. In Tunis, as a Carlo Schmid scholarship holder, she worked on projects on prison reform and the Transitional Justice process after the revolution. She then completed her legal practice course with clerkships at the Federal Foreign Office, the European Center for Constitutional Rights (ECCHR) and the International Criminal Court. Lea also worked as a research assistant in the public law department of a major law firm. Most recently, she worked as a researcher and policy advisor at the German Institute for Human Rights. The focus of her work there lay on human rights and mental health.

Sarah Lincoln is a fully qualified lawyer and joined the legal team at GFF in February 2019. She is responsible for the legal assessment and coordination of cases. During her legal clerkship she supported the Ecuadorian human rights organization CEDHU in strategic litigation. As research assistant and in voluntary counselling she focused on migration and asylum law. Before she joined the GFF team, Sarah worked as a human rights officer at Brot für die Welt for several years. In cooperation with national and international partners she documented cases of human rights abuses by transnational corporations and developed litigation and advocacy strategies.

Luisa Podsadny is a student assistant at GFF in communications, fundraising and project management since 2018. She is studying Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po Paris, where she is currently writing her master’s thesis on international intellectual property law and the right to food. Before that, she was Robert Bosch Foundation fellow at the German-Kazakh University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and studied International Relations (B.A.) in Dresden and Bishkek.

Christian Thönnes has been a student assistant at GFF in legal research and communications since November 2017. He studies law at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where he participates in the European Law School. He previously worked as a parliamentary assistant to Bettina Bähr-Losse, a member of the Bundestag, and studied International Relations (B.A.) in Dresden.

Franziska Boashie Adadé has been a student assistant at GFF in the office management since November 2018. She studies law at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Franziska previously worked in the social advisory office of the umbrella organization of Hamburg’s international youth associations and studied at the Bucerius Law School.

Julia Naumann is our external contacts for press and public relations. Nina Tesenfitz handles the requests for equal pay claims.

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A Strong Network: International Support

GFF pioneers strategic litigation as an appropriate legal means to improve civil rights legislation in Germany, but also across Europe. By closing ranks with like-minded organizations, GFF creates synergies and concentrates the relevant forces from the civil societies in different European countries.

At the international level, GFF cooperates closely with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

European partners include Amnesty International (Berlin/London), Bits of Freedom (Amsterdam), Chaos Computer Club (CCC, Hamburg), Digitale Gesellschaft e.V. (digiges, Berlin), the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR, Berlin), European Digital Rights – EDRi (Brussels), the Humboldt Law Clinic Internetrecht (HLCI, Berlin), La Quadrature du Net (Paris), Netzpolitik.org (Berlin), Privacy International (London) and Reporters Without Borders (Berlin/Paris).

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Why found an organization for strategic litigation? Can’t other NGOs do that on the side?
• What is strategic litigation and what makes it “strategic”?
• Does GFF act as a plaintiff in its own cases?
• Is GFF a law firm?
• Who is behind GFF?
• How can I support GFF’s work?
• Is GFF a charity?
• Who funds GFF?
• Does GFF work with corporations and accept donations from them?
• Is GFF a politically partisan organization?
• Is GFF only active in Germany?
• Does GFF only work in its own name, or does it also participate in projects?
• Does GFF cooperate with law clinics?
• Does GFF use amicus briefs?

Why found an organization for strategic litigation? Can’t other NGOs do that on the side?
Strategic litigation is a specific legal tool that requires expertise and experience. For individual NGOs, it is usually not worth it having a specialized in-house legal practitioner. Moreover, procedures can take years, requiring long-term involvement and a durable structure. Effective litigation also calls for careful and precise communication in public relations work—nothing that can easily be done on the side. Therefore, we seek to offer a way for different NGOs to combine and coordinate their efforts by offering them a professional litigation platform. We are not trying to duplicate existing work; rather, for the majority of our cases, we cooperate with other NGOs. That way, we achieve the maximum success for the law: GFF contributes its specific expertise on strategic litgation, our partners contribute their experience with the respective issue.

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What is strategic litigation and what makes it “strategic”?
Strategic litigation pursues cases in court in order to achieve goals beyond the individual case (click here to jump to our Strategy). The following procedure makes this type of litigation “strategic”:

• Ideal cases and plaintiffs as well as suitable forums are selected,
• long-term goals are pursued through a series of cases building onto one another,
• specialized legal experts proceed tactically in order to avoid errors,
• long-term cooperation with established NGOs and activists in Germany, Europe and around the globe creates synergies,
• and the law suits are complemented with targeted public relations work, mobilizing awareness for the underlying rights issues.

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Does GFF act as a plaintiff in its own cases?
GFF supports law suits and sees them through. Usually, the plaintiffs are individuals who represent organizations fitting the case, or the organizations themselves. GFF has not yet acted as a plaintiff but offers legal, financial, organizational and PR support.

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Is GFF a law firm?
No. GFF only coordinates, supports and finances cases. Our plaintiffs are represented by highly specialized attorneys and professors (German law professors have the right to represent clients in court).

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Who is behind GFF?
GFF is run by its team and supported by its members and their contributions. GFF has around 30 members from all areas of politics, academia and civil society, including academics, writers, activists, journalists, and legal practitioners. See below for who funds GFF.

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How can I support GFF’s work?
The easiest way to get involved is to donate to GFF or to become a sustaining member. If you have a case that is suitable for strategic litigation, please get in touch—we know how to do turn your case into a success for civil and human rights. If you are an attorney willing to represent our cases in court, please also email us: info@freiheitsrechte.org, using encryption: PGP/GPG Key ID FA2C23A8 (Download).

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Is GFF a charity?
According to its statute, GFF directly and exclusively pursues charitable goals. Our non-profit or charity status (Gemeinnützigkeit) is recognized under German law, such that donations are tax-exempt. GFF has also been admitted as an observer by European Digital Rights (EDRI), the association of NGOs working on digital civil rights in Europe.

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Who funds GFF?
GFF’s work is funded by its members’ contributions, by its sustaining members and by donations (click here to see how you can support our work). Moreover, in its start-up phase, GFF has received contributions from a number of different NGOs and foundations, including Stiftung Bridge / Bewegungsstiftung and the Open Society Foundations. Our annual fiscal report will be published on this website.

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Does GFF work with corporations and accept donations from them?
GFF focuses on cooperation with NGOs, activists and media. Depending on the case, a cooperation with a for-profit partner can be strategically valuable, e.g, in order to win corporate plaintiffs for a test case. GFF is open to donations from corporations, but will have to consider such offers case by case in order to avoid undue influence on its work.

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Is GFF a politically partisan organization?
GFF is strictly non-partisan. Our mission is a commitment for our democracy, the civil rights in our Constitution, and human rights. GFF’s members include supporters of a number of different democratic parties as well as non-partisan activists.

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Is GFF only active in Germany?
Unlike other NGOs who pursue a transnational approach, GFF primarily works on cases in Germany. However, GFF closely cooperates and networks with European and international partners. With our expertise, we will support rights-oriented litigation work in Europe and around the globe.

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Does GFF only work in its own name, or does it also participate in projects?
GFF can work with other organizations on specific projects. For example, we are currently establishing a project on freedom of information claims together with the initiative “Frag’ den Staat” (Ask the State) which is part of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany.

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Does GFF cooperate with Law Clinics?
Yes! Legal Clinics offer students access to practical experience—something which is otherwise largely absent in German universities. Participating in research, drafting briefs and assisting with client relations, they can become involved in real cases and thereby develop a much richer understanding of the law, its impact and its challenges. GFF actively supports and promotes such ways of engaging students early on in civil and human rights issues, inter alia by cooperating with the Humboldt Law Clinic Internetrecht (HLCI).

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Does GFF use amicus briefs?
Amicus curiae briefs have become a standard way of supplying the court with specific, relevant expertise in the United States. In Germany and across Europe, this instrument is not yet well established. GFF will promote this important tool for advancing civil and human rights litigation in Germany and Europe, supporting the work of cooperating organizations through its expertise and helping to raise the profile of selected cases.

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Image credits:

Image source “Justice” under CC-BY-SA 2.0

Image source “Reporter ohne Grenzen” under CC-BY-SA 2.0

Image “Brandenburger Tor” © humanrightsdoku on Flickr, CC-BY 2.0.

Ulf Buermeyer © Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit

Nora Markard © Steffen Weigelt

Volker Tripp © re-publica, CC-BY-SA 2.0

Malte Spitz © Malte Spitz, CC BY 3.0

Peggy Fiebig © Michael Gottschalk