What if corporations were allowed to sue governments because its laws to protect people and the environment but hurt corporate profits? What if there was a tribunal where corporate executives were able to literally get away with murder? What if there were elite educated lawyers out there whose jobs were to figure out how to sue struggling nations to make huge amounts of profit?

A major Buzzfeed News report just exposed the inner workings of secret international courts that corporations use to sue governments for the most ludicrous things like failing to protect an oil well during war or for protecting a natural area that was due to be mined. Some countries are so poor, that the mere threat of a lawsuit forces them to fold and dish out millions to corporations without even going to court.

These courts are already attacking our democracies - and new trade deals like TPP could make them even more powerful. It’s up to our politicians whether we cooperate with these dubious secret courts, and even, whether we sign up to them in the first place.

Tell our leaders to end their use of these secret corporate courts - and we'll take our message to governments around the world. 

These courts have existed for years, to “protect” corporations from governments making laws that protect people, the environment and hold up working standards but might hurt corporate profits. But many governments are chosen by their citizens. No-one votes for the CEOs of big corporations or the lawyers making these decisions - so why should they get to jeopardise people’s lives and public funds, just to make more profit?

Buzzfeed reports confirm the complete lack of transparency, corruption and absence of accountability in these courts. The very same people who judge these cases are the lawyers getting corporations millions of dollars for suing a struggling economy.

SumOfUs members have made a habit of standing up against the worst parts of global trade deals for three years. We’ve delivered petitions to world leaders in places as far apart as Hawaii and Berlin. We’ve confronted politicians in Brussels, Sydney, and everywhere in between to put a stop to dangerous trade deals. We’ve paid for polls to prove to our leaders that most people don’t support huge global trade deals without proper democracy checks on their power.

Now we need to turn up the pressure again. Help to stop our leaders giving these dangerous courts more power.