European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) is an independent, non-profit human rights organization based in Berlin, founded in 2007 by Wolfgang Kaleck and a group of international lawyers.

The ECCHR focuses on the enforcement of human rights through legal means. It initiates, conducts, and supports strategic legal proceedings to hold state and non-state actors accountable for serious human rights violations. The organization works in three main areas:

• Crimes Against Humanity and Legal Accountability: The ECCHR pursues cases of torture, war crimes, and other serious human rights violations to bring the perpetrators to justice.
• Migration: It advocates against illegal push-backs and other human rights violations at borders.
• Business and Human Rights: The ECCHR combats economic exploitation and corporate accountability in global supply chains and environmental disasters[2][4][5].

The main mission of the ECCHR is to enforce the rights guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as other human rights declarations and national constitutions through legal means. The ECCHR advocates for transparency and accountability and makes injustice visible, both in court and in society. The organization is committed to advancing the protection of human rights in Europe and worldwide and creating a world free from torture, exploitation, and closed borders[1][3][4].

The ECCHR is engaged in numerous sustainability initiatives and goals:

• Legal Education and Networking: Through the Critical Legal Training and the international Summer School on Business and Human Rights Practice, the ECCHR trains young lawyers and promotes collaborative learning and networking[3].
• Investigative Commons: Together with Forensic Architecture, the ECCHR founded the Investigative Commons to develop new methods of evidence production and legal investigations beyond state experts[2][3].