Protimos
  • Home
  • About us
    • Our people
    • Privacy Policy
  • Our work
    • Community Legal Empowerment >
      • Seinoli Legal Centre
      • Atticus Fellowships​
      • Uvinje Project
      • San IPR
    • Judicial Action Group
    • Green Light Programme
  • Impact
  • Latest News
    • Judgements
    • Newsletters
  • Contact
  • How to give

Power of legal precedent

Picture
Protimos’ work ‘is an expression of what makes law necessary: the only surety against arbitrary exploitation of the weak by the powerful’  
Lord Justice Laws

Some recent successes


Picture
Members of the Mapeleng community dig the village’s water pipe.

Restoring water to Mapeleng village

Protimos established Lesotho’s first stand-alone public interest legal centre, the Seinoli Legal Centre in 2014.  

The village of Mapeleng lost access to running water after a dam was constructed to supply water to neighbouring South Africa. In 2012, the Seinoli Legal Centre obtained a court order which obliged the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority to provide water to the village. The community, after ten years, now has access to clean running water which allows the local economy to grow.

​This precedent will enable other similarly deprived communities to press for the restoration of their water.
.
Picture

Compensation for the Ha Lejone Community Cooperative

The law entitles them to compensation for their lost brushwood, fodder, medicinal plants, which they can then use to create new economic opportunities, following their displacement and the loss of their land.

In 2015, the court ruled, after a courtroom battle between Seinoli lawyers and the Lesotho Development Highlands Authority (LHDA), that the community was indeed entitled to receive this compensation. It has now received part of the compensation, and to consider its economic opportunities.
 
There are a further 64 communities similarly affected who can now use this precedent to secure their overdue compensation. Protimos’ strategic litigation has provided a pathway out of poverty and a precedent for other communities to follow.​
Picture
The Chief of Ha Lejone holds a copy of the judgment in the 'Ha Lejone Cooperative Vs the LHDA' case. 
Picture

sponsors and partners

Protimos
​South Bank Technopark
90 London Road
London SE1 6LN
United Kingdom

+44 (0)20 7717 1588
info@protimos.org
Home
Impact
Atticus Fellowships
Our people
Latest News
Contact
How to give
Website designed by Archetype Design
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
UK charity number 1086388. Company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales 03998496.
  • Home
  • About us
    • Our people
    • Privacy Policy
  • Our work
    • Community Legal Empowerment >
      • Seinoli Legal Centre
      • Atticus Fellowships​
      • Uvinje Project
      • San IPR
    • Judicial Action Group
    • Green Light Programme
  • Impact
  • Latest News
    • Judgements
    • Newsletters
  • Contact
  • How to give