About Us
The Media Legal Defence Initiative is a non-governmental organisation which helps journalists and independent media outlets around the world defend their rights.
We help journalists regardless of the medium they use - print, broadcast or internet - and we do so by making sure they have good lawyers defending them. If necessary we pay legal fees and we work alongside lawyers to make sure the best possible legal defence is provided. If you are a journalist and you need assistance, please contact us by clicking on the "get help" box on the right hand side.
We work directly with individual lawyers around the world, and we also have partnerships with national organisations who provide legal aid to journalists. These partnerships are in countries such as Uganda, where the threat of legal action against journalists is high and journalists have no access to affordable high quality legal defence. Our long-term goal is to strengthen media legal defence capacity around the world by supporting initiatives that enhance the legal knowledge, skills and effectiveness of those working in the field.
Our strength lies in our knowledge and networks and our ability to deploy resources where needed most. We have experience of working in media legal defence across cultures and jurisdictions and building relationships between people working in this field.
Our role is unique. We are the only organisation who focus on providing legal defence to journalists and independent media on a global scale and our understanding of the challenges the media face in defending their legal rights, our experience in bringing together lawyers to share knowledge and collaborate and our access to top expertise around the world means we are well placed to give effective assistance when it is needed.
We are based in London and we work closely with a world-wide network of experienced media and human rights lawyers, local, national and international organisations, donors, foundations and advisors who are all concerned with defending media freedom.
