HRLN

Human Rights Law Network

Abbreviation	HRLN
Formation	1989
Founder	Colin Gonsalves
Type	Non-governmental organisation
Headquarters	New Delhi, India
Parent organization	Socio-Legal Information Centre
Website	www.hrln.org

The Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) is a collective of Indian lawyers and social activists who provide legal support to the vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of society. It works on child rights, disabilities rights, rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, prisoners’ rights, refugee rights, rights of indigenous people, workers’ rights, and rights of the minorities and people who have faced or are subject to sexual violence, among others.

HRLN is a project of the Socio-Legal Information Centre (SLIC). SLIC is a non-profit legal aid and education organization, which provides free legal assistance to people who lack the capacity to approach courts for redress. SLIC files more than 100 petitions each year to protect the health, dignity, and rights of India’s citizens. SLIC is one of the country's largest, most active legal human rights programs and reproductive rights unit. SLIC is also an implementing partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

A non-profit non-governmental organization, HRLN started in 1989 as a small group of concerned lawyers and social activists from Bombay. The team was led by Colin Gonsalves, a public interest lawyer. Today, HRLN is considered the country’s leading public interest law group and has a nationwide network of more than 200 lawyers, paralegals, and social activists spread across 26 states/Union Territories.

HRLN is also the parent body of the Indian People's Tribunal (IPT), also called the Indian People's Tribunal on Environmental and Human Rights or Independent People's Tribunal. Set up in June 1993, IPT is an unofficial panel led by retired judges who conduct public inquiries into human rights and environmental abuses. It provides an alternate outlet for the victims faced with official obstruction and delays in the delivery of justice. IPT conducts investigations into cases of relocation of rural people to make way for dams or parks, eviction of slum dwellers, industrial pollution and communal or state-sponsored violence.