The Effect of Crowdfunding on the Legal Opportunity Structure for Environmental Activists

There is a funding crisis for those looking to challenge unjust government action using the law, with legal aid for the judicial review (JR) of UK state decisions curtailed in recent years. This has led some citizens to instead seek private donations for JRs using online crowdfunding. Notably, environmental activists have begun to crowdfund legal challenges to climate change and conservation policy. While increasingly seen as an exciting development broadening access to the legal system, crowdfunding has received very little scholarly comment and no rigorous empirical analysis. Yet it raises crucial empirical and normative questions about access to law for campaigning. This project begins to answer these questions, critically assessing crowdfunding's potential to affect legal opportunities in the environmental sector. The core research question is: to what extent can crowdfunding affect the legal opportunity structure for environmental judicial review cases within a contested framework?

Sub-questions
1. How do social movements use opportunity structures?
This involves a review of 'legal mobilisation' literature, which studies how groups litigate as part of broader campaigns, navigating a system's legal opportunity structures (LOS) - its substantive laws and costs rules. This provides a compelling lens for studying how crowdfunding can affect campaigners' access to law. I intend to take a three-month placement at an NGO such as ClientEarth, employing participant-observation to study legal mobilisation in environmental law.

2. What is the LOS for environmental JRs and does it promote access to justice?
I will assess the LOS for environmental JRs - since 2013, environmental JR costs rules have differed from other JRs, and the efficacy of the new environmental rules is contested. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus groups with court actors, this provides vital academic contribution. This is particularly urgent since, in a 2017 official review, Sir Rupert Jackson proposed extending the rules to all JRs.

3. Which environmental groups are crowdfunding and who benefits most?
This explores which types of group will benefit in practice from crowdfunding. I will track which environmental cases are funded on CrowdJustice, the main JR crowdfunding site, and survey donors online to capture reasons for donating. I will also sample a small number of cases as qualitative case studies, conducting interviews and document analysis.

4. What risks does JR crowdfunding pose?
I will study risks to the JR system from crowdfunding, such as the potential for meritless claims and for the state to reactively restrict the LOS. Using regulation studies and the above findings, I will assess the need to regulate crowdfunding.

Original timetable (to be revised due to Covid-19)
Year One: October-March: Review literature. April-June: NGO placement. July-September:
design and commence quantitative research; analyse placement.
Year Two: October-December: continue quantitative research; design qualitative research
and contact participants. January-June: commence qualitative research and complete all
research. July-September: data analysis. Plan final draft.
Year Three: Final draft.

Impact and Knowledge Exchange
There is a range of influential audiences for the research. It can advise NGOs about future
approaches toward the LOS and using crowdfunding, and inform policymakers in the Ministry of Justice and other departments about the effectiveness of the environmental LOS and the potential need to regulate crowdfunding. I will organise a launch event near the end of the PhD, inviting stakeholders to discuss implications, and will present findings and future steps in blogs and a policy document.