Human Rights as a Tool for justifying state policies: The HRJust project presented key findings

The HRJust project, funded under the Horizon Europe program, is nearing its conclusion. IIR research team, which included senior researchers Dr Federica Cristani and Prof. Veronika Bílková, have been actively involved in the project together with other leading research teams and experts, like Prof. Elisa Fornalé from the University of Bern and Prof.  Ester Herlin-Karnell from the University of Gothenburg.

“In HRJust, we focused on how states invoke human rights to justify their decisions and what implications this has for the protection of individuals,” explained Federica Cristani at the opening of the final online conference of the Intersect Observatory held on Friday, November 7. Consortium researchers presented the project’s main contributions during the event.

During the first session, Prof. Ester Herlin-Karnell (University of Gothenburg and member of the Board of the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies (SNELS), Ms Felicia Meyer and Ms Martina Pennino (World Trade Institute, University of Bern) and Prof. Tamás Ádány (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, and member of the HRJust Advisory Board)  addressed human rights justifications, as well as broader questions about the functioning of human rights and the role of civil society and other non-state actors in their implementation. Speakers discussed, among other topics, participatory tools of the European Union, the importance of open access to research, and challenges linked to the evolving role of non-governmental actors in international law.

The second part of the program offered insights into the broader connections between research, public debate, and policymaking, and how these areas can mutually reinforce each other. Speakers focused on practical issues related to linking research with society and on how academic knowledge can inform public debate and policy development.

Dr Andrey Demidov presented the work on civil society engagement at the EU level carried out with the EU Democracy Reform Observatories, while Prof. Cristina Elena Popa Tache (Danubius International University) reflected on the experiences from  CIRET, COST and Adjuris. Lastly, Prof. Alena Křížková (Sociological Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences) offered practical insights on how to reconcile gender equality with entrepreneurship and innovation. The discussion also explored ways to strengthen citizen engagement in decision-making processes and public life.

Intersect Observatory: How Do States Justify Their Actions Through Human Rights?

As part of project, Dr Federica Cristani and Prof. Elisa Fornalé from the University of Bern co-developed a unique digital library, the Intersect Observatory. In addition to providing access to materials on human rights and their use in political practice, it also serves as a space for informed dialogue and healthy debate. In sum, the resource enables a deeper understanding of how human rights discourse is employed in political practice.

The metaphor of an “observatory” reflects the ability to systematically and thoroughly monitor complex social phenomena and, through such mapping, better comprehend them. These phenomena include pressing contemporary issues that the observatory primarily focuses on—climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and migration. In these areas, the project examined how states use human rights arguments to justify their actions and policy decisions. The project approached these topics from a gender and intersectional perspective – considering different impacts on women and men and taking into account intersecting factors such as age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. These characteristics combine in various ways, influencing vulnerability but also access to rights.

The Intersect Observatory digital library targets several key groups that play a crucial role in human rights and public policy: civil society organizations engaged in human rights issues; decision-making bodies and policymakers who can influence legislation and strategic direction; national and international human rights institutions that ensure rights protection and monitor compliance; and finally, representatives of academia who can build on the analyses and research outputs generated by the project to further develop informed debate on the topic.

Among the main themes covered by the observatory are legal and political aspects of human rights in the context of climate change, gender equality, intersectionality, and new forms of argumentation (e.g., the use of human rights in investment disputes). Special emphasis is placed on practical case studies, states’ and EU’s international obligations, and emerging legal concepts responding to complex crises. One of the key contributions of this part of the project is the provision of resources on climate litigation.

About the HRJust Project

The three-year HRJust project, which concludes in February 2026, aimed to explore human rights as a discourse and a tool used by states and governments to legitimize their actions. The project was launched in response to the growing role of the European Union as a global actor in defending and promoting democracy and human rights in line with Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union.

Human rights protection regimes today operate on the assumption that rights belong only to individuals. However, states often justify their behavior through human rights arguments. International, regional, and national regimes do not adequately regulate this situation. The project focused precisely on these regulatory gaps.