Landmark Class Action Ruling for Thai Villagers: Lessons for Business and Human Rights Litigation Involving Australian Companies
Description
Join Macquarie University's B&HR Access to Justice Lab for a webinar on ‘Landmark Class Action Ruling for Thai Villagers: Lessons for Business and Human Rights Litigation Involving Australian Companies’. The session will be moderated by Ebony Birchall (Deputy Director, B&HR Access to Justice Lab) and will feature Emilie Palamy Pradichit (Founder and Executive Director, Manushya Foundation), Keren Adams (Principal Legal Director, Human Rights Law Centre), and Nicki Lees (Social Justice Special Counsel, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers).
The panel brings together leading practitioners in human rights advocacy, strategic litigation and corporate accountability across the Asia-Pacific. Discussion will focus on the recent landmark ruling in Thailand’s Phichit case, advanced by Manushya Foundation, which marks the country’s first environmental class action lawsuit. Panellists will explore how a multi-level approach that combines legal support, grassroots mobilisation and international advocacy can help communities access justice for environmental and human rights harm. Panellists will also consider broader lessons for business and human rights litigation and the growing scrutiny of Australian-based companies operating overseas.
Case Summary:
In March 2026, Thailand’s Ratchada Civil Court ruled in favour of nearly 400 villagers from Phichit and Phetchabun provinces, finding that they should be compensated for damage caused by the country’s largest gold mining operation. The Chatree Gold Mine—run by Akara Resources, a subsidiary of Australia’s Kingsgate Consolidated—was found to have caused serious environmental harm and human rights violations. The Court recognised credible evidence of toxic contamination, loss of agricultural livelihoods, and long-term impacts on physical and mental health since 2001. Alongside monetary compensation, the Court ordered Akara Resources to permanently close one of the mine’s waste pits, and to rehabilitate surrounding land and waterways.
The judgment follows more than a decade of community advocacy, during which Akara Resources deployed over 40 Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) against villagers, academics and human rights defenders. While the ruling represents a historic victory, Manushya Foundation, which has defended the case as their international human rights counsel since 2019, emphasises that the struggle for justice is not yet complete. Compensation remains limited, and further legal issues are still before the courts. Akara and Kingsgate have rejected the Court’s findings and announced plans to appeal, a response viewed by Manushya Foundation as ongoing corporate denial of accountability and a challenge to the rule of law.
Moderator
Ebony Birchall
Dr Ebony Birchall is Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University and Deputy Director of the Business & Human Rights (BHR) Access to Justice Lab. She recently published the first book on strategic litigation in Australia. Prior to working at MQU, she worked as a human rights lawyer for 12 years at the forefront of Australian-based strategic litigation.
Panellists
Emilie Palamy Pradichit
Emilie Palamy Pradichit is the Founder and Executive Director of Manushya Foundation. She is a decolonial & intersectional feminist and international human rights lawyer specialising in accessing justice for communities impacted by government and business actions, through strategic litigation and United Nations mechanisms. Working across Asia, Emilie supports women and youth to speak truth to power and defends Indigenous, forest‑dependent, LGBTIQ+ and other marginalised communities in their fights for justice, dignity, and equality. Her work focuses on climate justice and corporate accountability, civic space, digital rights, transnational repression, and the protection of human rights defenders, grounded in movement lawyering and people-led approaches to justice. She also serves as the Asia Representative on the Coordination Committee of OECD‑Watch and sits on the Advisory Council of the International Center for Not‑For‑Profit Law (ICNL), the Board of Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice (WIGJ), and the Scientific Committee of the René Cassin Foundation - International Institute for Human Rights.
Keren Adams
Keren Adams is Principal Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre and leads the Centre’s work on corporate accountability and climate justice. Previously a partner at UK firm Leigh Day, she has over 20 years’ experience as a human rights litigator and advocate in Australia and internationally. Keren is currently representing communities in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, living with large-scale environmental pollution from Rio Tinto’s former Panguna mine. Keren is also a founding member of the Australian Corporate Accountability Network and has served on the Board of the Australian OECD National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct.
Nicki Lees
Nicki Lees is a Special Counsel in the Social Justice Practice at Maurice Blackburn, specialising in strategic human rights litigation. Her work includes corporate accountability cases, including against Australian mining companies and often focuses on situating litigation within broader frameworks to drive structural change. Nicki is also involved in running training programs for young lawyers in the Asia-Pacific on how to bring legal claims against companies causing environmental harm.
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