Kieran McEvoy and Anna Bryson. “Boycott, Resistance and the Law: Cause Lawyering in Conflict and Authoritarianism.” Modern Law Review, vol. 85, no. 1 (2022): 69-104.
This article explores how cause lawyers operate in authoritarian or conflicted settings where legal outcomes are often predetermined and victories are rare. Drawing on theories of resistance, legal consciousness, and memory, it examines how lawyers use the law not just to win cases, but to challenge power, assert moral authority, and preserve faith in justice. The article focuses on two main strategies: boycotting legal proceedings and engaging in symbolic legal resistance. Boycotts are positioned as acts that question the legitimacy of the legal system and connect with broader political struggles. Meanwhile, even seemingly hopeless legal battles can serve as forms of “instrumental resistance,” disrupting authoritarian control and transforming courts into platforms for protest, truth-telling, and collective memory.
The article argues that these legal practices, though rarely successful in formal terms, help to counter the use of law as a tool of repression. Cause lawyers in backsliding democracies thus play a crucial role in resisting authoritarianism, defending core legal values, and maintaining a “stubborn optimism” in the rule of law despite overwhelming odds.