Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
Structural Litigation and the Role of the Courts
Law School, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
- 1 Law School, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Beijing Law Review·Volume 16 (2025)·Pages 1660–1666·Published 28 July 2025·DOI10.4236/blr.2025.163081
Copy link · social · email
Abstract
This article aims to demonstrate that although structural litigation began in the US Supreme Court in the 1950s, it is now a common practice in courts around the world. To support this assertion, structural decisions from a wide range of courts in different countries and legal systems will be cited.
KeywordsStructural LitigationCourtsStructuring Decision
- Arenhart, S. C., Osna, G., & Jobim, M. F. (2025). Structural Process Course (3rd ed.). Thomson Reuthers Brasil.
- Bonilla, H. M. B. (2018). Structural Rulings in the Proceedings of the Constitutional Chamber of Costa Rica. IUS Doctrina Journal , 11, 126-127.
- Campos, C. A. de A. (2022). Unconstitutional State of Affairs, Structural Rulings, and the Relevance of Monitoring: The Colombian Case. In M. Casimiro, & E. Cunha (Eds.), Structural Processes in the Global South (pp. 427-448). Thoth.
- Chandrachud, C. (2022). Anticorruption by Fiat: Structural Injunctions and Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court of India. Socio-Legal Review, 14, 170. https://doi.org/10.55496/arbc3995
- Chayes, A. (1976). The Role of the Judge in Public Law Litigation. Harvard Law Review, 89, 1281-1316. https://doi.org/10.2307/1340256
- FISS (2007). Owen M. Law as Public Reason (Translated by Esteban Restrepo Saldarriaga). Marcial Pons.
- França, E. P. da C. (2022). The Judiciary as an Amplifier of Marginalized Voices: Dialogical Activism and Social Transformations through Structural Processes. In M. Casimiro, & E. Cunha (Eds.), Structural Processes in the Global S outh (pp. 361-388). Thoth.
- Fuller, L. L., & Winston, K. I. (1978). The Forms and Limits of Adjudication. Harvard Law Review, 92, 353-409. https://doi.org/10.2307/1340368
- Hurtado, A. C., Maldonado, M. E. A., & Gutiérrez, F. C. (2019). Constitutionalism, Collective Action, and Judicialization of the Right to Housing in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. City Law Review, 11, 11-12.
- Jobim, M. F. (2024a). Constitutional Remedies in Structural Conflicts in Asia and Judicial Guidelines. Electronic Journal of Procedural Law, Rio de Janeiro, 25, 595-614. https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/redp/article/view/86624
- Jobim, M. F. (2024b). Cortes and the Global Treatment of Structural Conflic ts: Structural Injunctions, Structural Interdicts, Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Writ of Continuing Mandamus. Social Action Litigation (SAL). Unconstitutional State of Affairs in the Courts . Interinstitutional Judicial Cooperation (4th ed.). Lawyer’s Bookstore.
- Jobim, M. F. (2024c). Structural Measures in Constitutional Jurisdiction : From the US Supreme Court to the Federal Supreme Court (4th ed.). Lawyer’s Bookstore.
- Jobim, M. F., & Steffens, L. (2022). The Structural Process within the Constitutional Court of Peru: Reflections Based on the Lambayeque v. Arellano Serquén Case. In M. Casimiro, & E. Cunha (Eds.), Structural Processes in the Global Sou th (pp. 523-553). Thoth.