Big Law Entering a Shrinking Space:

Building a Green Tribunal in Ethiopia

Nina Reiners, University of Oslo

Draft paper and incomplete analysis, all comments are welcome!

Abstract
The top global law firms (“Big Law”) have significantly increased resources for their voluntary
legal services – referred to as pro bono work – in the last decade. Today, private law firms have
become advocates for environmental and social justice around the globe. Private law firms have
been able to expand the scope of their pro bono activities, while traditional civil society advocates
have to navigate an increasingly shrinking space. This paper explores the consequences of pro
bono advocacy in a case of judicial institution-building. The case of the establishment of an
environmental administrative court in Ethiopia through a law firm shows how private actors
benefit from restrictions for civil society advocates, but also offers opportunities to study factors
which prevent their success. Findings suggest that pro bono advocacy strengthens a Western and
corporate perspective on law and justice in global governance. The paper concludes with a critical
reflection on the broader implications of private actors transforming human rights advocacy.

Keywords: xxx

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 1. Introduction

In February 2009, the Ethiopian Government adopted the Proclamation to Provide for the
Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies (CSP), Ethiopia’s first comprehensive law
governing the registration and regulation of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The
2009 law and its associated Directives violated international standards relating to the freedom of
association. However, a new 2019 CSO Proclamation, adopted under Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed, seemingly created a more enabling legal environment for civil society. Yet, optimism of
domestic and international civils society groups quickly got a reality check: In 2021, the operations
of three humanitarian organizations, among them Médecins sans Frontières and the Norwegian
Refugee Council, were temporary suspended, accusing the organizations of disseminating
misinformation on social media. The Deputy Director of the Agency for Civil Society
Organizations (ACSO), the executive institution overseeing the implementation of the CSO
Proclamation, said they will take punitive measures against NGOs suspected of working on issues
outside of the purpose for which they were established that threaten Ethiopia’s sovereignty, unity
and security: “We will have no mercy on civil society organizations that threaten Ethiopia’s
sovereignty, unity and security. We will never negotiate to accommodate such a predicament”.1

This is only one of the many examples of anti-NGO legislations across the world and their impact
on civil society. Such laws are increasing in numbers in both autocracies and democracies
(Chaudhry 2022), reflecting the concerning development of restrictions on civil society and a
shrinking civic space in these countries but also at the international level (Roggeband and Krizsán
2021). While the causes and consequences of such laws on the work of the civic sector has been
analyzed with concerning findings from both academics and activists (Chaudhry and Heiss 2022a,
2022b; K. Dupuy, Fransen, and Prakash 2021; Fransen et al. 2021), one question has received less
attention: who enters the shrinking space for civil society – and what are the implications for civil
society?

The purpose of this paper is to explore this question with regard to one powerful but so far
overlooked actor in international relations: private law firms. Specifically, I want to shift the

1 Fasikaw Molla, quoted in “News Analysis: Fed. government vows to take punitive measures against CSOs, NGOs
who step outside their mandates, threaten Ethiopia’s sovereignty”, September 14, 2021. Available at:
https://addisstandard.com/news-analysis-fed-government-vows-to-take-punitive-measures-against-csos-ngos-who-
step-outside-their-mandates-threaten-ethiopias-sovereignty/

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attention to their pro bono activities, meaning voluntary legal services for marginalized or
resource-poor groups. The pro bono activities of the top law firms changed significantly over the
last decade and became more professionalized within the firms operations (Cummings 2011;
Cummings and Rhode 2009; Rhode 2005, 2008; Sandefur 2009) while activities expanded in scope
and region (Daase 2014; Steinitz 2009). Today, pro bono lawyering has become a truly global
operation (Cummings, De Sa e Silva, and Trubek 2022). As private actors, law firms are not
affected by the shrinking space observed for traditional human rights defenders (Chaudhry 2022;
Chaudhry and Heiss 2022a), and they are both more accustomed to and better equipped for
navigating democratic backsliding and authoritarian contexts (Moustafa 2014; Solomon Jr 2010;
Stern and Liu 2020). Yet, their dependence on revenues from corporate clients for pro bono works
makes them difficult partners in development projects and for democratic governments.

Scholars of international relations beneft from studying global law firms and their pro bono work
because they actively seek to play a significant role in shaping global governance. They influence
policymaking through their involvement in legal cases that shape global norms and standards, for
example through strategic litigation in domestic courts, and through their engagement with
international organizations and governments, for example by teaming up with NGOs to report to
UN human rights bodies. Through public interest litigation and advocacy, they can contribute to
the advancement of human rights, especially in countries where access to legal representation is
limited (Faure and Raja 2010; Oloka-Onyango 2015). By providing legal assistance to marginalized
communities, they can help to ensure that their rights are protected. Pro bono work by global law
firms can help promote the rule of law by providing access to justice for those who may not
otherwise have it, and by strengthening the capacity of the justice sector in countries where it may
be weak. Overall, the provision of pro bono services by global law firms can enhance global
governance by supporting the development of effective and efficient legal systems, promoting
respect for the rule of law, and advancing human rights and justice globally.

To explore in detail how they impact the pursuit of global justice in countries where traditional
advocacy organizations face restrictions or even repression for their work, I will present an in-
depth case study of a private law firm’s involvement in establishing the first environmental tribunal
in Ethiopia. The establishment of such courts became necessary in many countries out of a
realization that conventional courts and the judiciary do not possess the multidisciplinary expertise
which is necessary to make informed decisions on climate and environmental law. Such cases have

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in turn become a preferred tool for human rights and environmental advocacy (Duffy 2018;
Haglund and Welch 2021; Lizarazo-Rodriguez 2021; Peel and Osofsky 2020).

The paper starts with an overview of private law firms and their pro bono activities and make the
argument that we have to take them seriously as actors in International Relations. Relying on
scholarship on the global legal profession and transnational elites, I discuss how private law firms
could transform transnational and global advocacy through their pro bono activities. To
substantiate and illustrate my argument, I introduce an in-depth case study of a private law firm’s
pro bono activity in Ethiopia. The firm, DLA Piper, announced in 2020 that it would cooperate
with the federal government “to create a world class, specialist environmental court of law”2. Once
a traditional activity involving environmental and human rights advocacy groups, institution-
building for justice became a partnership project between the Ethiopian government and the law
firm, causing much criticism among academics and civil society in the country. The paper seeks to
explore what are drivers behind DLA Pipers work in Ethiopia and the firm’s relation with other
actors in the country.

2. Pro Bono Lawyers as New Actors in Global Governance

NGOs and other civil society organizations are central to contemporary global governance. But
the global democratic recession and authoritarian resurgence in recent years has created a troubling
environment for these groups, even in democratic countries. The latest data from the CIVICUS
Civil Society Monitor shows that 88.5% of the world’s population now lives in countries where
the space available to NGOs is closed, repressed, or obstructed.3 While there is a growing body of
literature examining the causes behind these administrative and legislative crackdowns (Chaudhry
2022), there has been limited research on the responses to this phenomenon.

Pro bono work by private law firms has become more professionalized, centralized, and strategic
with unknown consequences for global advocacy. This trend generates uncertainty for
environmental and social advocacy groups and blurs the scope of legal action. In contrast to
traditional actors in this field, like NGOs, social movements and public interest lawyers, private
law firms depend on corporate clients for pro bono work. Pro bono scholars have pointed to the
correlation between a firm’s financial performance and pro bono work (Cummings 2011, 6). A
market-reliant concept of aid is hardly new, neither for the study of pro bono services (Sandefur

2 https://www.a4id.org/case-studies/establishing-the-first-ethiopian-environmental-tribunal/
3 https://monitor.civicus.org/

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2007) nor for global advocacy scholarship (Eikenberry and Mirabella 2018; Harvey, Gordon, and
Maclean 2021; Schmitz and McCollim 2021). Public-private partnerships have dominated the field
of development cooperation and contributed to the effectiveness of global governance at in local
contexts (Andonova 2017; Beisheim and Liese 2014). Yet, unlike social entrepreneurs or
philanthropists, private law firms do not limit themselves to providing funding or sponsoring
technologies and infrastructure. They are literally advocates, wielding expertise on the law and the
judicial process, maintaining influential networks, and possessing substantial resources to directly
act upon pressing environmental and social justice issues. Despite the increasing prevalence and
importance of these private efforts in public policy, global governance researchers have thus far
paid scant attention to them.

In IR scholarship, lawyers have often been considered from an institutionalist perspective, often
with a focus on whether they act politically as judges on international courts and on their collective
dynamics in decision making (Alter 2008; Ba 2017). Other scholars have argued that lawyers are
not members of epistemic communities because they apply, rather than generate, issue-specific
knowledge (Haas 2008). Yet, legal professionals like private lawyers on pro bono cases often must
act politically when confronted with conflicts in applying or defending the law (Cohen 2010;
Cummings 2011). While scholars have paid significant attention to the development of pro bono
work within and across law firms and how pro bono traditions can be compared across countries
(Cummings, De Sa e Silva, and Trubek 2022; Cummings and Rhode 2009), little is known about
the effects of pro bono activities on global environmental and social advocacy, a space usually
occupied by international organizations or civil society organizations. The profession approach
holds promise for explaining the transformation of the sector, bearing in mind that legal
professionals act as double agents (Dezalay and Garth 2002) and that expertise gained abroad is
reimported to the work at home (Hanrieder 2019).

Scholarship on global and transnational actors and advocacy (Bloodgood and Pallas 2022; Hale
2020; Keck and Sikkink 1998), including the literature on legal activism (Saage-Maaß et al. 2021)
and strategic transnational climate or human rights litigators (Lizarazo-Rodriguez 2021; Paiement
2020), largely overlooks the agency of private law firms in legal mobilization for environmental
and social causes. This neglect is surprising given recent efforts to conceptualize nontraditional
actors in international law and politics, such as credit rating agencies (Kruck 2011), insurance
companies (Scheper and Gördemann 2021), and intelligence agencies (Hoffmann 2021), and the
observation that global governance is increasingly shaped by experts and technocrats (Carayannis

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and Weiss 2021; Littoz-Monnet 2020; Steffek 2021). At first glance, law firms appear to be agents
for their clients aiming to maximize profit, yet by increasing their pro bono and border-crossing
activities, they affect the public interest on a global scale. Pro bono experts assume that challenges
such as authoritarianism and populism will only bolster “transnational efforts by progressive legal
elites to protect the rule of law” (Cummings, De Sa e Silva, and Trubek 2022, 5).

The motivation for law firms to professionalize their pro bono activities stems from at least three
factors: first, the corporate sector’s transformation through social responsibility norms and
sustainable finance regulations. Major firms have appointed top-executive positions for internal
environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability initiatives, and individuals in these
positions often simultaneously oversee pro bono programs.4 As such, pro bono work has become
more professionalized, centralized, and strategic. Second, private law firms need to react to the
changing preferences of graduates from the top law schools to stay competitive for the best people.
Just like in other sectors, the current generation expects a job which pays the bills but also does
not commit to this work at all costs. They want to contribute to a better world in face of climate
change (or at least not make it worse through their labor) and they often chose free time over full-
time contracts. The reputation of the private law firms’ work reality5 is just not attractive to young
professionals as it used to be. Third, after the collapse of the financial market in 2008/2009, Big
Law became strategically interested in stabilizing the conditions in countries where their corporate
clients invest. Many law firms realized the need to change the perspective and use pro bono work
to actively influence good governance in other countries. Pro bono work is influenced by country-
specific factors (Cummings, De Sa e Silva, and Trubek 2022). Globally, pro bono work is not a
coherent practice and is marked by “a set of contested meanings and practices shaped by global
and local legal actors vying to advance their own professional priorities and embed distinctive
visions of professional service” (Cummings, De Sa e Silva, and Trubek 2022, 3).

Pro bono activities typically include law firms providing legal research, the drafting of third-party
interventions, representing victims in courts, guiding, and advising NGOs or other actors on areas
of law, and providing strategic guidance and legal support. Law firms and NGOs may, in practice,
interact in a wide range of ways. On the one end of the spectrum, they might compete for cases,
supporting the same groups with different strategies. On the other end, they might act as partners
in litigation. Public interest litigation has become increasingly important for advocates of social

4https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/dla-piper-debuts-new-executive-level-sustainability-role-2021-09-07/
5No image of a lawyer in Big Law is more apt than the all-nighter: https://www.law.com/international-
edition/2022/12/07/the-decline-of-the-all-nighter-and-the-rise-of-the-weekend-in-big-law/

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and environmental change. One example of a law firm partnering with an NGO for social
advocacy is the support offered by Freshfields to an NGO defending the right to a nationality for
a child in a same-sex family with various services before the European Court of Justice.6 In another
example, Baker McKenzie has formed a partnership with an NGO to advocate in front of UN
human rights treaty bodies. The law firm sponsored and assisted the NGO to produce a report
for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child by providing inputs on a General Comment on
children in street situations. For NGOs, there is a risk to include overly legalistic language in
reports and submissions to international human rights monitoring bodies when working together
with law firms (Cody 2014, 255). As illustrated by the two examples, it has become common for
private law firms to take on work once done exclusively by NGOs or social lawyers and to advise
NGOs on strategies. The consequences of these cooperation dynamics and their longer-term
impact on global advocacy need, however, to be explored. Yet, knowing about the impact of
NGOs on civil society, especially in countries with repressive governments, the cooperation
sought by pro bono lawyers might prove important when the operations of NGOs are restricted
by national laws.

The support of international institutions is another factor to consider when evaluating the
consequences of global pro bono advocacy. Law firms do not operate in a vacuum when engaging
in pro bono activities. Some firms take on pro bono projects that have global significance, such as
support in drafting constitutions in post-conflict states (Daase 2014; Steinitz 2009). One such
example is the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which promoted pro bono work for civil
justice initiatives in India. Inter- and supranational institutions can thus play a role in promoting
pro bono work as a part of broad political reform missions. Some law firms explicitly target the
international level. Baker McKenzie, for example, referred to the UN Global Compact’s Principles
as embodied in its core culture and recently became a Patron of the UNGC’s Action Platform for
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. One objective of the paper is to make visible how pro bono
lawyers are positioned within this ecology and which patterns of interactions we can find. The
findings of the case studies will speak to a wide range of global governance scholarship, addressing,

6 On LinkedIn, the NGO officer summarized that the private law firm: “(…) provided invaluable help in advocating
for support and raising awareness of the case. It included legal research on applicable EU law and preparation of an
arguments briefing which informed my efforts on legal advocacy and building messages for the media. As the
pressure before the hearing was building up and time was becoming of essence, they also joined in efforts to provide
guidance to the legal counsel on the litigation process ensuring preparedness to the hearing. We worked together
literally day and night. It meant not just having extra legal capacity, but in a way empowering: taking a huge weight
off the shoulders with all the background work and encouraging us to go on with a stronger ground under our feet.

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for instance, agents and trustees, orchestration, and intermediaries (Abbott, Levi-Faur, and Snidal
2017; Alter 2008; Brès, Mena, and Salles‐Djelic 2019).

3. Method & Data

The single case study of DLA Piper’s involvement in Ethiopia’s federal environmental court-
building allows for an in-depth exploration of pro bono activities and their relationship
configurations with other actors in Ethiopia. Ethiopia counts as repressive country (CIVICUS)
with recent legislations restricting civil society organizations in their funding, activities and aims.
Ethiopia is among the group of least developed countries. Further criteria for the selection of the
case were established domestic contacts, language skills and security risks.
The analysis uses data from interviews (Fujii 2017), documents and reports, and close observation
based on an ethnographic approach. This strategy has proven useful in producing findings on the
emergence and construction of transnational fields through practice, e.g. for postcolonial security
studies (Hönke and Müller 2012) and private military business and public security studies (Leander
2005). Studying pro bono work will further be facilitated by “hanging out” (Nair 2021) in pro bono
associations meetings and in spaces of pro bono work, such as local courts or community centers.
Because much pro bono work is done by early-career lawyers, I explore dynamics and
consequences by using narrative interviews to pay special attention to individual interactions. 7

4. Analysis – Building a Green Tribunal for Ethiopia

Green tribunals are specialized courts that deal specifically with environmental disputes and issues.
They provide a platform for individuals and organizations to seek legal remedy for environmental
harm and violations of environmental laws and regulations. Climate litigation, in particular,
requires specialized courts because of the complex and interdisciplinary nature of climate change
and its impacts. Green tribunals provide a quicker and more effective resolution to climate
disputes, as compared to the traditional court system, and help to ensure the protection and
preservation of the environment for present and future generations. Green courts or tribunals
address the environmental law enforcement deficit through public interest litigation, especially in
countries “where environmental concerns of involuntary displacement, re-settlement, provisions
of basic needs of water and sanitation, indoor air pollution are interlinked with the rights of the
poor and the underprivileged sections of society” (Birlie 2017, 306). Conventional litigation in

7 See for example (Mülli 2021).

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most countries, but especially in Ethiopia, “is expensive, burdensome and unpredictable due to
the nature of environmental problems” (Birlie 2017, 306)

“Neither the institutions nor the capacity“

In 2019, it was announced that the Ethiopian Government was in the process of drafting a
proclamation to establish a green tribunal which should preside over administrative cases of
environmental issues. The draft was handled by the Ethiopian Environment, Forest and Climate
Change Commission (EEFCCC). The EEFCCC is a Federal Executive Organ of the State of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. One of the aims of the EEFCCC is to build a climate
resilient green economy by 2025 by ensuring sustainable environment and forest management,
development and utilisation.
Ethiopia’s constitution recognizes a right to a clean and healthy environment.8 The Pollution
Control Proclamation has introduced public interest environmental litigation as one of the
innovative strategies in the Ethiopian legal system to realize the constitutional right. This “opened
the door for individuals and environmental rights advocacy groups to bring cases before courts”
(Birlie 2017, 326). If a person lodges a complaint at the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)
or the relevant regional environmental agency against another person allegedly causing actual or
potential damage to the environment, a complainant is granted when the EPA or regional
environmental age fails to give a decision within thirty days.

Since March 2020, DLA Piper lawyers from offices in Europe and England, along with their
relationship firms in Ethiopia and Kenya, have been advising the EEFCCC. The EEFCCC is
mandated to formulate strategies, policies, laws and standards as well as procedures in regard to
the environment. Upon approval of these policies and laws, EEFCCC then monitors and enforces
their implementation. DLA Piper lawyers are assisting EEFCCC with legislation and the
establishment of the Environmental Tribunal for Ethiopia. DLA Pipers assistance to EEFCCC:
“will improve access to justice and enhance enforcement of international and domestic
environmental laws, policies and principles.” (DLA Piper Website). In a briefing, the lawyers
received the following information on the plan to set up the court:
“The brief that was prepared for the lawyers envisioned a preeminent civil and
administrative law court capable of hearing judicial reviews in environmental matters. The
Terms of Reference included instructions to widen the legal rules on ‘standing’ that would
allow individuals and communities to commence proceedings through civil society and

8 FDRE Constitution Art. 44.

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 non-governmental organisations, who would previously have been unable to do so. This
critical feature would provide agency and access to justice to ordinary citizens most
affected by violations of environmental law. A further innovation was allowing the remedy
of compensation for successful claimants. Both these non-negotiable features pointed to
one of the overarching priorities of establishing the tribunal – making rights and
obligations under various environmental laws justiciable. This would thereby provide the
most affected citizens an additional forum and the opportunity to shape the course and
direction of environmental law, and policy implementation and execution”9

The Ethiopian newspaper “The Tribune” published an article in February 2020 on the topic of
the planned green tribunal. Ayele Hegena, director general for policy, law and standards research
development at EEFCCC, justified the government’s plan with a reluctance of the judiciary
reluctant to engage with environmental matters, and prosecute violations that require the use of
technical reports and scientific understanding: “Lack of environmental technical expertise of both
judges and prosecutors is one of the major difficulties for the effective enforcement of
environmental laws in Ethiopia”10 The director announced the intent of the Commission to host
a training for judges on environmental law, as well as for police investigators.
Criticism and contestation by academics, opposition, and environmental groups were raised early
on in the process. Andualem Mekonnen, assistant professor at the School of Natural Science at
Addis Abeba University was quoted in the article as follows: “At a glance this might be deemed a
profound move to address the environmental issues, but it falls into doubt when we look at the
capacity of the regulatory institutions. (…) Designing programmes or approaches just for the sake
of being established will not solve the current environmental problems. I highly doubt the
execution of these kinds of programmes. Instead, the government should work on the grassroots
issues from proper studies to proper assessments before jumping into anything.” 11
Environmental problems occurred in different parts of Ethiopia and with varying impact on the
population. The identification of a violation of the people’s constitutional right and the subsequent
strategy to claim one’s right is traditionally the sphere of local advocacy groups. However,
Ethiopia’s government has made such spheres harder to navigate for many NGOs and advocacy
groups.

9 https://www.a4id.org/case-studies/establishing-the-first-ethiopian-environmental-tribunal/
10 Ayele Hegena quoted in https://addisfortune.news/ethiopia-to-introduce-green-court/, 15 Feb 2020.
11 Andualem Mekonnen quoted in https://addisfortune.news/ethiopia-to-introduce-green-court/, 15 Feb 2020.

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Ethiopia’s restrictive space for civil society
Civil society has been found “smaller and less diverse than elsewhere in Africa” (Clark 2000; K.E.
Dupuy, Ron, and Prakash 2015, 424; Zewde and Pausewang 2002). The sector emerged slowly
with the famines in the 1970s and always under close control of the Ethiopian government.
Especially foreign NGOs were met with skepticism at the local level. Following the political
liberalization process in Ethiopia in the 1990s, the number of NGOs increased – yet often with
strong ties to political elites. After the violent protests following the 2005 elections, the ruling party
accused civil society organizations of spurring violence. Consequently, the government adopted
policies and legislations seeking to regain control over civic space in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia adopted one of the most restrictive NGO laws in the world in 2009. One of the impacts
on the environmental justice sector was the control of advocate licenses by the executive branch,
which were only granted to natural persons of Ethiopian nationality and not to NGOs (Birlie 2017,
325). The Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSP) categorizes three types of organizations:
Ethiopian Charities, Ethiopian Residents Charities, and Foreign Charities. The Proclamation
excludes Foreign and Ethiopian Resident human rights NGOs from human rights advocacy
activities but allows them to participate in environmental protection efforts.12 The 2009 CSP
legislation (see introduction) had an immense impact on Ethiopia’s civil society. It “dramatically
re-shaped the country’s NGO population” (K.E. Dupuy, Ron, and Prakash 2015, 420). Scholars
observed the disappearance of most foreign-aid funded, proposal-based NGOs “while surviving
domestic NGOs have ‘rebranded’ their activities by abandoning their explicit interest in human
rights, or ‘restructured’ operations into less sensitive domains” (K.E. Dupuy, Ron, and Prakash
2015, 420). This rebranding of activities was quickly adopted by the remaining international
NGOs.

DLA Pipers activities in Ethiopia

While usually secretive around their corporate projects, DLA Piper prominently advertised their
activities in Ethiopia on their pro bono website (see annex). The cooperation with the EEFCCC
is also cross-promoted as a case study for the Public Interest Lawyers Network (PiLNet), of which
DLA Piper is one of the main sponsors (listed as benefactor), and on Advocates for International
Development (A4ID), of which they are a legal partner. The case study starts with an assessment
of Ethiopia`s economic situation and its growth rate in the last decade13. It is argued that this

12Charities and Societies Proclamation No.621/2009, Art. 14 (5) and Art. 14(2(b).
13„The decade of 2010-2020 witnessed an extraordinary turn around in Ethiopia’s fortunes. Based on the World
Bank’s figures, Ethiopia’s average growth rate of 9.4% per annum makes it the third highest in the world after China
and India, and its average Gross National Income now at US$850 per person represents a staggering 650% increase
over the period for this quiet achiever. The Government has set itself an ambitious goal of reaching middle income

11
growth came at a cost, namely “degradation of ecosystems and productive agricultural lands,
deforestation, and poor utilisation of water resources fuel increases in poverty, food insecurity,
loss of biodiversity, and even conflict”14. Instead of pointing to Ethiopia’s constitution, the law
firm derives the need for expertise on environmental law in the judiciary from Ethiopia’s “reliance
on agriculture“, the Government’s commitment to a climate-resilient green economy by 2025, and
the enforcement of international environmental law. DLA Piper mentions limited resources and
only two lawyers on staff in the Commission as the main reasons why they turned to their firm for
very particular technical legal expertise to establish the Court.

DLA Piper was tasked with

“reviewing a draft of a Proclamation to Provide the Establishment of a Federal Environmental
Tribunal and provide input to ensure it aligned with international best practice in a number of
key areas. This included, scope and subject matter jurisdiction; qualifications of tribunal judges
and panel members; use of experts and procedural rules; and Tribunal procedure. At the outset,
lawyers undertook legal research and detailed analysis into the constituting legislation and
procedural rules of environmental courts or tribunals in four other jurisdictions, namely, India;
Kenya; the province of Ontario (Canada); and the State of New South Wales (Australia), in
order to advise on international best practice. (…) The final product was an admirable Bill that
draws on the best aspects of comparative environmental courts and tribunals while being fully
contextualised to adapt to local conditions and imperatives. The scope of the Tribunal is kept
deliberately broad and includes all administrative and civil law matters that engage issues
related to the environment, natural resources conservation, including but not limited to forests
and land use, and sustainable development, and all matters arising from international
environmental agreements and domestic Proclamations where the Commission and subsidiary
institutions are mandated. The Bill is currently under review by key stakeholders including the
Police Commission, the High and Supreme Courts and the Attorney General’s Department.
The Commission hopes that the Proclamation will be passed within a year and a three-year
timeline is expected for the Tribunal to become fully operational. (…) Following the success
of the initial request to review the draft legislation to an Environmental Tribunal, DLA Piper’s
lawyers have continued to advise the Commission on the Rules of Procedure for the Tribunal.
These will be ready and in place when the Tribunal is established. The firm also continues to
support the Commission’s work in the area of legislative reform. DLA Piper’s pro bono teams

status by 2025 led by an agriculturally based growth strategy.“ https://www.a4id.org/case-studies/establishing-the-

first-ethiopian-environmental-tribunal/
14 https://www.a4id.org/case-studies/establishing-the-first-ethiopian-environmental-tribunal/

12
 in the UK, Africa, and Dubai are conducting a comprehensive review of all Ethiopian
legislation, regulations and directives relating to wildlife conservation.”15
• DLA, in collaboration with the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB),
Africa investor (Ai) and the CFA Asset Owners Council (AoC), has launched the Model
Law on Institutional Investor-Public Partnerships (ML-IIPP) initiative which will facilitate
the deployment of trillions of dollars of private capital into ‘green’ infrastructure
programmes and projects across the continent.
• DLA Piper designed the ML-IIPP, a 130 page document that delivers the fast tracking, de-
risking and scaling of private capital participation
• Announcement of court-building on DLA pro bono website
• Today: no more updates/information on status of the tribunal (should have been
operational by now)

5. Discussion

It can be assumed that the need for litigation increases the demand for legal expertise and services,
so law firms become powerful actors in global governance, with consequences for the relationship
between law and the exercise of public power. Nevertheless, we lack explanations for how the
merging of interests in a private firm transforms transnational advocacy for environmental and
social justice – and with what consequences for advocacy organizations on different levels.
Drawing on the profession approach to the study of advocacy holds promise for explaining the
transformation of the sector, bearing in mind that legal professionals act as double agents (Dezalay
and Garth 2002) and that expertise gained abroad is reimported to the work at home (Hanrieder
2019).
• Relationship between NGOs & Law firm (cooperation, co-optation, conflict), private
actors and public services, power asymmetries
• Capacities: who else would have them?
• Independence of lawyers/judicial institutions
• Whose/which rights are promoted (e.g., neglect of constitutional right)
• Perception/understanding of global justice

6. Conclusion

15 https://www.a4id.org/case-studies/establishing-the-first-ethiopian-environmental-tribunal/

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Annex

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