This Special Collection Paper by Ramiro Álvarez Ugarte documents the findings of a global research project which sought to identify judicial trends in the adjudication of cases involving violence against journalists and human rights defenders. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of 43 court decisions, most handed down over the last five years, that have been added to the Case Law Database relating to this particular form of harm against freedom of expression. The project defined violence against journalists and human rights defenders broadly, including murder, physical aggression, incarceration, threats and other forms of harassment. However, the research also included new forms of violence, such as online harassment and surveillance, especially against women. The first section discusses the conceptual and methodological approach to the research, and the challenges and lessons gathered in the process. The second section introduces the international human rights standards against which judicial trends are, or should be, bench-marked. The third section presents the main findings from the different regions covered, with a focus on the trends identified based on the decisions reviewed. The fourth and final section offers a brief conclusion.