Litigation Director and in-house lawyer
As litigation director, Jelle Klaas identifies potential cases, investigates the possibilities of strategic litigation, and creates case files. Additionally, he holds an important executive role concerning the coordination of cases and involved parties. In some of the PILP cases, Klaas is also the attorney-at-law. He is in-house attorney with the PILP-NJCM.
As a lawyer, Jelle Klaas has gained much of his experience in the field of human rights litigation in the Netherlands. He has previously worked for 15 years as a lawyer for the Fischer Groep, a law firm specializing in social-economic human rights. The firm has litigated countless cases on the right to food, shelter and clothing for undocumented people. One of such cases was the successful Conference of European Churches v. The Netherlands which proceeded before the European Committee of Social Rights.
Jelle Klaas has litigated many high profile anti-discrimination cases. For example, a case concerning the exclusion of people from Iranian descent from academic institutions, the undocumented young person not permitted to complete an internship, and a young person from Volendam that was not allowed to wear a headscarf to school.
Klaas completed the Strategic Human Rights Litigation course at the Central European University. He has also visited and learned from several foreign organisations engaged in strategic litigation.
Klaas regularly gives guest lectures to students and trainings to NGOs on strategic litigation. You can follow him on twitter @AdvocaatKlaas.
In-house lawyer
Merel Hendrickx is in-house lawyer at PILP-NJCM. She identifies potential cases, investigates possible areas of strategic litigation, and creates case files. Additionally, she holds an important executive role concerning the coordination of certain cases and the involved parties. In some of the PILP cases, Hendrickx is also the attorney-at-law.
Before working at the PILP, Merel Hendrickx studied international law with a focus on human rights and international environmental law. She was an intern at Paulussen Advocaten for Roger Cox, a lawyer for the Urgenda Climate Case. During her internship, she focused on legal research and advice in the area of human rights and the interests of future generations in the context of climate change.
Merel Hendrickx was also an intern at the Political, Cultural, and Media department of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in South Africa. There, she provided operational support and worked on the content of the Public Diplomacy Programme on Peace and Justice. The programme oversaw a delegation of Judges, Presidents, and Secretaries-General of international justice organisations in The Hague visiting South Africa to engage in dialogue on the topic of peace and justice.
In-house lawyer
Rosa Beets is in-house lawyer at PILP-NJCM. She coordinates various case files, prepares strategic procedures, maintains contact with clients and partners, and acts as attorney-at-law in several procedures. She also conducts legal research and provides legal advice to partners within the PILP-NJCM network. In addition, she explores opportunities for strategic litigation on new topics and cases.
Previously, Rosa worked as a paralegal at law firm Prakken d’Oliveira Human Rights Lawyers, and gained experience in strategic litigation at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) in Berlin. There, she focused particularly on business and human rights.
Strategic Legal Advisor/ Community Organiser
Nawal Mustafa works as legal officer at PILP-NJCM. She is an expert on anti-racism, Islamophobia and feminism.
Currently, in addition to her work at PILP-NJCM, Nawal is completing her PhD at the Vrije Universiteit. Nawal is doing her PhD on the topic of migration and the regulation of intimacy. Before starting her PhD, Nawal worked for Amnesty International, Humanity in Action and Critical Mass.
In 2018, together with three other activists based in the Netherlands, Nawal started SPEAK, a platform for Muslim women and their struggle against racism, islamophobia and sexism. Nawal has extensive experience in community engagement and movement building from a intersectional and decolonial perspective.
Coordinator of Operations & Development
Laura Wennekes is coordinator of operations & development at PILP-NJCM. In this role she is responsible for all external relations, fundraising and the operations of PILP. She also identifies and coordinates (new) projects and events that complement the cases of PILP.
Before she started at PILP, Laura worked as project assistant at Allen&Overy, Natuurmonumenten and Stichting !Woon. In addition, Laura completed a legal master (LL.M) within the field of International Security at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU).
Next to her work at PILP, Laura holds a position on the board of Amnesty International The Netherlands.
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Project assistant
Nadia Bosma works as project assistant at PILP-NJCM. In this role she provides support for all internal and external communications and event planning of PILP. She is mainly involved in organizational and administrative tasks.
Nadia is in the process of completing her Master’s degree in Criminal Law at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. During her studies she is also engaged in family and juvenile law. Before she started as a project assistant at PILP-NJCM, she had the opportunity to hold various positions at the university. She enjoyed working for the Student Council and supported research at the Department of Criminal Law.
