This session examines how justice systems operate under rising authoritarianism, focusing on both their potential as sites of contestation and their structural limitations.

For social movements, courts have always been spaces of tension. They can offer avenues for protecting rights and challenging abuses, but they are also shaped by exclusion, criminalization, and unequal access to justice. In authoritarian contexts, these tensions intensify.

Participants will explore how courts are being reshaped through processes such as judicial capture, court-packing, political pressure, and executive interference. At the same time, the session will examine how law itself is increasingly used to concentrate power, criminalize dissent, and legitimize repression.

Grounded in experiences from countries such as India, Poland, and Tunisia, the session will analyze how courts respond under pressure—including moments of resistance, accommodation, and institutional fragility. It will also address current challenges, such as the sidelining of judicial decisions and the erosion of judicial independence.

By bringing these experiences into dialogue, the session aims to support a more grounded and strategic understanding of how movements can engage with courts as part of broader efforts to confront authoritarianism.

Learning objectives
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Analyze the role of courts under authoritarian pressure, including both potential and limits

• Identify key patterns such as judicial capture, court-packing, and executive interference

• Learn from diverse experiences of judicial response across contexts

• Assess how courts can be used strategically within movement lawyering