The Center began to operate in July 2003, when the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, in the framework of its program “Campaigning Against Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ukraine”, created the Fund for professional support to victims of torture and ill-treatment (with financial support from the European Union and Open SocietyInstitute). The Fund provided legal and financial aid in cases connected with torture by police, disproportionate use of force, illegal detention, and a number of other cases.

At that time the Fund supported such cases as the cases of Aleksey Afanasyev, Vladimir Kucheruk, Vladimir Fedorov, Oleg Yakovenko, Ivan Nechiporuk. In some cases the European Court of Human Rights has already issued its judgments, other cases have been communicated to the Government and judgments on these cases will be taken soon.

In 2006 the Fund was transformed into the Strategic Litigation Center. The Center expanded its activities and began to deal also with the questions of fair trial in criminal proceedings, the right to privacy and other rights.

Since 2007, the Center pays special attention to protection of the rights of people held in custody. The Center supported several cases relating to inhuman conditions, inadequate medical care, violation of the right to privacy and other violations. At the same time the Center supported the case about two mass beatings of prisoners in Zamkova colony No. 58 in Izyaslav, which resulted in dozens of prisoners injured. On 1 July 2010 the European Court of Human Rights issued the judgment in this case.

Since autumn 2008 the Center began to work towards the protection of human rights in health care.

Currently the Center works with more than 200 cases.