“Radical Legal Internationalism” in the Cold War Era and Beyond

“Lawyers’ Activism, International Law, and Human Rights in the Cold War Era: The Emergence of Radical Legal Internationalism,” Law and History Review 43, no. 4 (2025): 903–927

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/law-and-history-review/article/lawyers-activism-international-law-and-human-rights-in-the-cold-war-era-the-emergence-of-radical-legal-internationalism/D7C0A72536CB741D21CDC6327BAB1982#article

This article revisits the overlooked history of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), a global network founded in Paris in 1946 by antifascist lawyers. Long dismissed as a Soviet front, the IADL in fact developed a more complex role in shaping international law and human rights during the Cold War. Drawing on archival sources, the article shows how the association, despite being influenced by the Communist agenda, became a hub for lawyers from diverse backgrounds who shared commitments to antifascism, peace, and decolonization.

The IADL pioneered what this paper conceptualizes as “radical legal internationalism”: a cross-border practice that brought together Communist, progressive, liberal, New Left, and decolonial perspectives. Through trial observation, United Nations advocacy, and missions of inquiry, the lawyers who embraced this approach challenged abuses of justice, defended political prisoners, and promoted social, economic, and cultural rights alongside traditional civil liberties.

Far from being a marginal or purely partisan initiative, the IADL provided an alternative legal tradition that questioned Cold War orthodoxies and broadened the language of rights. By spotlighting this legacy, the article redefines how we understand lawyers’ activism and the early engagement of the Left with human rights.