Using U.S. Evidence Tools for Global Accountability

Provided by EarthRights

Resources to help communities, lawyers, and advocates access evidence for cross-border human rights and environmental cases

Accessing evidence held by companies or individuals in the United States can be a major obstacle in human rights and environmental cases brought in other countries. The U.S. Foreign Legal Assistance (FLA) statute offers a pathway to address this challenge by allowing parties in foreign proceedings to request evidence through U.S. courts.

To raise awareness of this tool, EarthRights has developed an FLA Guide. The guide explains how the statute works, how it can support accountability litigation, and answers common questions.

Together with a blog post showing how the strategy has been used in practice, these resources aim to help communities, lawyers, and civil society organizations assess whether the FLA tool could support their cases.