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closeted_cause_lawyering_in_authoritarian_cambodia.pdf | Alex Batesmith
Pleased to share that my article with my good friend and colleague Kieran McEvoy, “‘Closeted’ Cause Lawyering in Authoritarian Cambodia” (2025) 59(3) Law & Society Review 463, has been shortlisted for the SLSA Article of the Year Prize. The paper is the result of 11 years of writing and revising, grounded in a longitudinal study (2014–2021) of 37 Cambodian lawyers and human rights defenders working in politically sensitive areas. It explores what we term “closeted cause lawyering”: how lawyers in repressive environments pursue legal and social change while concealing their intentions in order to protect their clients, themselves, and the fragile spaces in which they work. We identify how they quietly advance rights‑focused goals through dignity‑restoration work with clients, professionalism in court, and the cultivation of a moral community among like‑minded colleagues. Our deep thanks and admiration go to the Cambodian lawyers who participated in our research, and whose everyday courage makes this work possible. The article also reflects on how lessons from Cambodia resonate elsewhere. As more democracies experience authoritarian tendencies, including sustained attacks on institutions, legal accountability, and those who represent politically disfavoured clients, the paper argues that defending the rule of law even in these spaces may increasingly require lawyers to recognise their shared responsibility to resist such pressures, both publicly and, where necessary, more quietly. The shortlist was recently announced by the SLSA ahead of the prize ceremony at the Annual Conference in Brighton on 31 March. The article is open access here: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gMnieWtf
