Strategic Support for Legal Defenders of Press Freedom

Working with lawyers 

Part of Media Defence’s mission is to provide support to lawyers who represent journalists. We do this by providing knowledge exchange opportunities, such as litigation surgeries and in-depth exploration of specific legal issues. We also support lawyers with their cases. This can range from advising on case strategy to helping develop legal arguments on freedom of expression issues.

Over the years our global network has grown to over 500 lawyers defending journalists. In 2024, Media Defence delivered a mix of in-person and online activities further strengthening this network.

This included five litigation surgeries – including in South and Southeast Asia for women lawyers – quarterly know-how sessions, and our peer-to-peer mentoring programme. A total of 133 lawyers took part, enhancing legal expertise, fostering collaboration, and expanding our community. 2024 marked two firsts: our inaugural litigation surgery in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and our first Portuguese-language surgery in Lusophone Africa.

“South Asian societies are mostly patriarchal. Media Defence’s training gave women lawyers not only the tools, but the encouragement to continue defending rights, knowing they are not alone.” – Manushika Cooray, Human Rights Lawyer from Sri Lanka and South and Southeast Asia litigation surgery participant

In order to ensure our collaboration with these lawyers is both effective and sustainable, it is essential that we gather meaningful feedback and monitor impact. To achieve this, we use several methods. First, we conduct litigation surgery feedback surveys; second, we carry out an annual Lawyer Impact Survey.

The impact of Media Defence’s support on knowledge and skills 

For the litigation surgery feedback surveys, we received 37 responses from lawyers we supported in 2024 from different regions. 35% respondents practised in South and Southeast Asia; 24% in Latin America; 22% in Europe; 11% in Sub Sahara Africa and 8% in MENA. 62% of respondents identified as women, and 38% as men.

Feedback from the surveys indicate that Media Defence can have a positive impact on improving litigation skills and knowledge of freedom of expression issues:

• 92% of litigation surgery respondents found that they increased their knowledge of litigating online freedom of expression cases
• 84% of litigation surgery respondents found that they increased their skills in litigating cases concerning online freedom of expression

“The topics were very relevant and contemporary. I learnt a lot from my colleagues from other countries.”
– South and Southeast Asia litigation surgery participant

The quality of Media Defence’s support 

In 2024, we also carried out our fourth Lawyer Impact Survey to evaluate the impact of our support to lawyers. Through our support, we hope to achieve wider impact through improved freedom of expression laws. The responses reflected the high quality of support provided by Media Defence, and demonstrated the different ways that freedom of expression cases can contribute towards a more pluralistic environment, – creating space for enhanced protection of journalists.

For the survey, we received eight responses from lawyers we supported in 2024 from different regions. 25% respondents practiced in sub-Sahara Africa; 25% in Latin America; 25% in Europe and 25% in Southeast Asia. 87% of respondents identified as men, and 13% as women.

Responses indicate that Media Defence is responsive and provides high quality legal support.

“Media Defence brought a dimension of internationally recognised human rights law and expert analysis of the principle of freedom of expression in legal arguments in defence of affected journalists in criminal cases I have represented.”
– Survey respondent

The wider impact of Media Defence’s support  

Our litigation surgeries offer intensive, collaborative spaces where lawyers gain hands-on experience in defending freedom of expression through strategic litigation. But the real impact of these spaces lies in their ripple effect: how the knowledge, networks, and confidence gained by participants translate into real-world action far beyond the workshops themselves. A lawyer from our global network – Jorge Ruiz del Ángel from Mexico – exemplifies this ripple effect in motion.

Jorge’s journey with Media Defence began in 2022 at a litigation surgery in Guatemala. With over two decades of experience in human rights, Jorge had previously led Mexico’s governmental protection mechanism for journalists. He told us that the surgery helped him reframe his understanding of media cases – not as isolated legal matters, but as part of a wider pattern of systemic repression. Shortly after, Jorge launched Estudio ALDH, a law firm dedicated to defending journalists, whistleblowers, and human rights defenders. Since then, the firm has taken on multiple strategic cases, trained local authorities in 44 municipalities, and co-developed a national guide for journalists covering elections in Veracruz. Media Defence’s resources and regional modules have been integrated throughout Jorge’s work, extending their reach to communities across Mexico. Jorge has also become a conduit of connection – linking other lawyers, human rights defenders, and journalists to Media Defence’s support mechanisms.

Last year, several emergency defence cases were referred by former litigation surgery participants, including our first requests from Albania and Angola in over a decade. These examples underscore that capacity strengthening is not a one-off intervention — it is the foundation of a growing global community. Thanks to the expertise and dedication of lawyers like Jorge – part of the trusted network built through our litigation surgeries – we are able to extend our reach to journalists and places we could not easily access or support on our own.

If you are a lawyer representing journalists, please visit our Resource Hub, a source of free training materials and legal resources on freedom of expression.

You can read more about the work of Media Defence in our 2024 Annual report.