The “desperate hope”: Strategic litigation to save Norwegian wolves

• In Event: Legal and illegal wildlife crimes

Abstract

Norwegian wolves are hunted regularly with the Government’s blessing, even though the wolves are critically endangered and protected by international law. The hunts are meant to reduce a heated “wolf conflict” in Norway, by protecting hunters’, farmers’ and forest owners’ interests. Legal scholars have found the practice to be unlawful (Trouwborst, Fleurke, and Linnell 2017), and animal and environmental protection NGOs have contested several hunting decisions in court with varying results. I explore the NGOs’ motivation and expectations for the “wolf litigation” and whether they achieved what they were hoping for, through in-depth interviews with the plaintiffs and analysis of the verdicts and their political aftermath. Was the “wolf litigation” a worthwhile strategy? What are the prospects of strategic litigation to promote animal and nature protection in the Anthropocene?

Author

• Martine S.B. Lie, University of Oslo; Dept. of Criminology and Sociology of Law