TechCrowdJustice, Julia Salasky, Legal Aid, Kickstarter, Indiegogo
May 25, 2015 09:10 AM EDT
Julia Salasky, former lawyer of United Nations founded a crowdfunding platform called "CrowdJustice" which will be for public interest litigation. Sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo were successful in this field, inspiring CrowdJustice to step up.
CrowdJustice is not going to replace Legal Aid, for it will only act as medium for public interest litigation funding. When an individual or group files a case through CrowdJustice, it will be open to the public and if it interests the community, it may receive funds to litigate the case.
"CrowdJustice allows communities to band together to access the courts to protect their communal assets - like their local hospital - or shared values - like human rights. Successive governments have made access to justice harder and more expensive but we are using the power of the crowd to try and stem the tide," Julia Salasky said.
Cases that may seek help from CrowJustice varies - from the very local to an extensive types like destruction of a bird sanctuary, torture or mass surveillance.
Salasky added: "These can affect hundreds or thousands (or hundreds of thousands!) of people. There's no existing mechanism for enabling communities to channel the energy and the finances of the community as a whole, and typically public interest cases rely on a few brave individuals to make massive financial sacrifices on behalf of their communities. We are basically hacking the legal system to enable communities to invest in their future."
Now that everything can be posted on social media, asking for funds can be easy. And in case a crowd helped to fund a particular case and it wins, it may receive a fair share of damages.
So this is how it works in CrowdJustice: first, you submit a case. Next, you share it to your community and if people who are with the same goals or passion as you learn about the case, they might be of help either they contribute financially or they spread your case for funds.