Legal support: a lifeline for civil society and democracy

REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl

Civil society organisations (CSOs) and independent media are essential pillars of any healthy democracy. They hold institutions accountable, protect human rights and empower citizen participation.

Yet these organisations are facing mounting challenges on multiple fronts. Civic space is shrinking. Restrictive laws are on the rise. Foreign funding is being criminalised or curtailed. Together, these pressures are threatening not only their operations, but their ability to defend the fundamental rights they exist to uphold.

In this environment, legal support has become a powerful tool to strengthen the resilience of civil society actors and protect civic space. It helps organisations navigate stricter regulation, stay compliant and amplify impact. It’s essential infrastructure for a functioning democracy.

The scale of the challenge

Our 2025 Rising Pressure, Rising Needs report, which surveyed nearly 150 CSOs in our global pro bono legal network, TrustLaw, revealed that a convergence of operational, regulatory, political and funding pressures are triggering urgent legal needs: a striking 50% of respondents reported rising legal needs, with 36% citing new or stricter laws as the driver.

Legal support in action

Since 2010, TrustLaw has connected thousands of CSOs, social enterprises and independent media with law firms who provide free legal expertise, to help them navigate these mounting legal challenges.

Recently in El Salvador, we connected SembraMedia with legal experts to deliver practical legal training to independent newsrooms navigating the country’s Foreign Agents Law. For some, this meant learning how to comply safely and reduce the risk of sanctions. For others, it provided a roadmap to continue their journalism from exile.

We see the same underlying challenge play out across the globe – CSOs and media alike needing practical legal tools and expertise to defend civic freedoms.

In the US, legal support helped produce guidelines now used by CSOs nationwide to challenge the rise in book bans across schools and libraries – protecting people’s right to access ideas and information freely.

The pro bono support we received through TrustLaw gave us the legal foundation to create practical tools that communities across the country can use to protect that access. This is what happens when legal expertise meets a shared commitment to defending every child’s right to read.

Chance WilsonCEO & Founder, Wilson Global Initiative 

In the Philippines, legal research equipped LGBTQIA+ groups with an understanding of their legal protections, giving them the confidence to report abuse and pursue justice – building trust that the law protects everyone equally.

Through this initiative, we’ve seen more LGBTQIA+ individuals seek support from our office – something that rarely happened before. Equipped with basic knowledge of their rights, they now come forward to report violations and pursue justice. This reflects a meaningful shift toward empowerment and trust in public institutions.

HPW

Hershey Pablo Wencislao LGBTQIA+ Affairs Officer, Gender and Development Office, Zamboanga City Government 

In Latin America, legal research, conducted by eight law firms in the region for NGO Fundamedios, identified a pattern of emerging regulatory risks across ten countries. Insights such as these are empowering, as they help to shine a light on the drivers shrinking civic space, and can be used to inform advocacy efforts to protect civil society’s role in democratic participation.

Without an independent civil society, democracy cannot survive; it is civil society that holds those in power accountable and defends the right to dissent. This research on laws that restrict civic space reveals how ten countries in the region are using the law to stifle it. At Fundamedios, we will use this research to document, raise awareness, and advocate before it is too late.

César RicaurteDirector of Fundamedios

Why it matters

When civil society actors thrive, our democracies become stronger. But their resilience and survival increasingly depend on the support and expertise of lawyers, funders and partners.

If you want to find out more about how you can work with us to protect civil society and widen access to legal support, please get in touch. If your organisation is seeking to provide, or request, free legal support, you can join the TrustLaw network.

At this year’s Trust Conference – the Foundation’s flagship event – I’ll be discussing how the law is being used to close civic space. The event runs from 4^th – 5^th November in London and tickets are free – you can apply here.