Lawyers acting in cases involving enforced disappearances will be able to benefit from a newly-expanded online legal database providing case law and legal standards from around the world. According to its developers, the Enforced Disappearance Legal Database (EDLD) draws together domestic, regional and international case law as well as a full range of legal standards. 

Jessica Gavron, co-director of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), which is behind the database, said: 'As human rights lawyers, we know the importance of drawing on case law from other jurisdictions to make progressive arguments. For all lawyers, including those working in the national courts, it’s also important to reference international standards, and to understand the threshold we need to reach to secure a positive judgment. We hope the new, expanded EDLD will help all those seeking justice and accountability for the families of the disappeared.'

The database was originally launched in 2022. The revised version, launched today to mark the UN International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance, has been expanded to include nearly 200 case summaries, drawn from the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights, UN treaty bodies, and domestic courts. The resource is available in English, Spanish, French and Russian.

The updated EDLD also provides international standards on enforced disappearances as set out in international humanitarian law and international criminal law, in addition to the previously-available information on international and regional human rights systems.

The database – the first and only resource of its kind for those seeking to litigate cases involving enforced disappearance – grew out of EHRAC’s own experiences. The independent human rights centre, based in London, works with partners in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine. 

Russia is an ongoing priority, Gavron said. 'What was once a tool of war perpetrated by state security forces during the two Russian-Chechen wars, is now being used by local law enforcement, to "cleanse" minority groups and dissenters. The horrendous practice of ED has trickled down into ordinary policing tactics and at the same time been exported to Ukraine, where since 2014, Russia has used ED to target dissenters and members of marginalised groups.'