Lawfare

Extracted Attributes

• Purpose

  Peaceful alternative or less benign adjunct to warfare; to damage or delegitimize opponents; to drain resources; to achieve public relations victories.

• Common Tactics

  Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs).

• Impact on Markets

  Reduction of politically motivated legal threats can fuel stock rallies for companies.

• Primary Definition

  Strategic use of legal systems and institutions to influence foreign or domestic affairs.

• Alternative Definition

  Use of law as a weapon of war.

• Context of Application

  Conflict situations, geopolitical aims, suppressing dissent abroad.

• Use by Repressive Regimes

  To discourage civil society and individuals from exercising their legal rights, particularly when exposing issues like discrimination, corruption, or human rights violations.

Timeline

• Major General Charles J. Dunlap Jr. authored an essay defining lawfare as 'the use of law as a weapon of war'. (Source: Wikipedia, Web Search Results)

  2001-00-00

• The application of legal mechanisms in conflict situations began to draw significant international attention. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2000-01-01

• The People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s three warfares doctrine, which includes lawfare, was approved by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the Central Military Commission. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2003-12-00

• The concept of lawfare was discussed in the context of market reactions, with David Sacks arguing that ending politically motivated legal threats fueled the stock rally for companies like Tesla. (Source: Related Documents)

  2024-00-00

Lawfare

Lawfare is the use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs, as a more peaceful and rational alternative, or as a less benign adjunct, to warfare. Detractors have alternately begun to define the term as, "An attempt to damage or delegitimize an opponent, or to deter an individual's usage of their legal rights". The term may refer to the use of legal systems and principles against an enemy, such as by damaging or delegitimizing them, wasting their time and money (e.g., strategic lawsuits against public participation or SLAPP), or winning a public relations victory. Alternatively, it may describe a tactic used by repressive regimes to label and discourage civil society or individuals from claiming their legal rights via national or international legal systems. This is especially common in situations when individuals and civil society use nonviolent methods to highlight or oppose discrimination, persecution, corruption, lack of democracy, limiting freedom of speech, violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law. Since the early 2000s, the use of legal mechanisms in conflict contexts has drawn significant international attention. During this period, particularly in the context of the U.S.-led "War on Terror", both the United States and Israel have characterized legal challenges to their military operations as a form of lawfare—a term used to describe the perceived exploitation of legal systems to achieve political or ideological objectives. Critics argue that this framing delegitimizes the legal efforts of less powerful actors who seek accountability through international institutions. China has also employed lawfare, to advance its geopolitical objectives and repress dissidents abroad.

Web Search Results

• Lawfare - Wikipedia

  Lawfare is the use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs, as a more peaceful and rational alternative, or as a less benign adjunct, to warfare. [...] A more frequently cited use of the term is found in a 2001 essay authored by Major General Charles J. Dunlap Jr., in which Dunlap defines lawfare as "the use of law as a weapon of war"; that is, "a method of warfare where law is used as a means of realizing a military objective".( He later expanded on the definition, describing lawfare as "the exploitation of real, perceived, or even orchestrated incidents of law-of-war violations being employed as an unconventional means of confronting" a [...] The government of the People's Republic of China has explicitly recognized lawfare ("_falu zhan_" or "legal warfare") as an essential component of its strategic doctrine.( 161–164 Lawfare is one of three components of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s three warfares doctrine, which was approved by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the Central Military Commission "Central Military Commission (China)") in December 2003 to guide PLA political warfare and information

• A Brief History of the Term and the Site - Lawfare

  Lawfare refers both to the use of law as a weapon of conflict and, perhaps more importantly, to the reality that America remains at war with itself.

• Lawfare: Both an Existential Threat to the International Rule of Law ...

  The concept of lawfare is one that has many facets, meanings, and definitions throughout the legal profession; the term “lawfare” can apply to various and disparate situations, from private legal transactions to the legal conflicts amongst nations within international institutions.(#_ftn9) Even within the context of foreign policy alone, the lawfare label can be applied to a wide range of political and military actions, tactics, and strategies. As this Part in particular, but also this Article [...] The institutional recognition and implementation of lawfare as an indispensable tool of American foreign policy is long overdue. However, the recent election of President Joe Biden provides a valuable opportunity for the United States to finally formulate and enact a grand lawfare strategy as part of its wider foreign policy efforts. Lawfare within the foreign policy arena has been broadly defined “as the strategy of using—or misusing—law as a substitute for traditional military means to [...] In the case of lawfare’s proponents, those who recognize that lawfare is a new reality of warfare in the twenty-first century(#_ftn49) are correct insofar as lawfare does not seem to be going away anytime soon. As already mentioned, the United States’ primary geopolitical foes, China(#_ftn50) and Russia,(#_ftn51) have already made explicit commitments to using the power of the law—whether in the form of propaganda, technical legal maneuvers, or quasi-legal justifications for illegal foreign

• The Left's Lawfare in the Americas - The Heritage Foundation

  Unlike the “Pink Tide” of the past, the new wave of Marxist leaders in Latin America is creating a blueprint for burgeoning judicial dictatorships. In essence, lawfare is the latest weapon of the Latin American left to shift the region from fledgling democracies to repressive juristocracies that provide impunity to criminals and criminalize political opposition. [...] >>> Trump Verdict Makes NYC “Venezuela-on-the-Hudson” The common denominator is that the leftist ruling power in each country is weaponizing its legal system against its political opposition. This lawfare, along with informational and psychological warfare, is one of three methods of non-kinetic war employed by the Communist Party of China (CCP) who referred to lawfare as the use of weaponized judicial institutions to achieve strategic ends. [...] Former right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, pictured here on July 7, 2024, is facing false allegations of orchestrating a “coup” against the regime of Lula da Silva. Pedro H. Tesch / Getty Images ### Key Takeaways Lawfare, along with informational and psychological warfare, is one of three methods of non-kinetic war employed by the Communist Party of China (CCP).

• LAWFARE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary

  Cambridge Dictionary # Meaning of lawfare in English Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio ## Browse {{randomImageQuizHook.quizId}} {{randomImageQuizHook.quizId}} Word of the Day salt of the earth very good, honest, and reasonable, and not thinking you are special in any way Landing on your feet (Newspaper idioms) Blog Landing on your feet (Newspaper idioms) technofossil New Words © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2025 [...] © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2025 ## Learn more with +Plus ## Learn more with +Plus Cambridge Dictionary Cambridge Dictionary To add lawfare to a word list please sign up or log in. Add lawfare to one of your lists below, or create a new one. {{message}} {{message}} Something went wrong. {{message}} {{message}} Something went wrong. {{message}} {{message}} There was a problem sending your report. {{message}} {{message}} There was a problem sending your report.

• Founder

  Jack Goldsmith

• Instance Of

  Q30849

• Headquarters

  Washington, D.C.

• Inception Date

  9/1/2010

Lawfare is the use of legal systems and institutions to damage or delegitimize an opponent, or to deter individual's usage of their legal rights. The term may refer to the use of legal systems and principles against an enemy, such as by damaging or delegitimizing them, wasting their time and money (e.g. SLAPP suits), or winning a public relations victory. Alternatively, it may describe a tactic used by repressive regimes to label and discourage civil society or individuals from claiming their legal rights via national or international legal systems. This is especially common in situations when individuals and civil society use non-violent methods to highlight or oppose discrimination, corruption, lack of democracy, limiting freedom of speech, violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law.