03 March 2026
Free Speech, Protest and the High Court’s Ruling on the Proscription of Palestine Action
On 13 February, the High Court of England and Wales ruled that the UK government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action did not follow the government’s own policy and was contrary to the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. The case highlights how proscription, a sweeping power “designed to ensure that an organisation ceases to exist”, significantly affects the rights of people outside the organisation. Given the breadth of the restriction, the court came to the right conclusion and provided an important safeguard for free speech and protest rights. Continue reading >>
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17 October 2025
Free Assembly for a Free People
In the age of the internet, people coming together in physical space still matters a great deal. This is especially true in countries where democracy is under threat. As has become increasingly clear during the past twenty years of the “global democratic recession,” existing institutions, not least courts, often fail to stop aspiring autocrats, while citizens on streets and squares might push back effectively – at least sometimes. Yet virtually everywhere the right to assemble has become more restricted. Even in non-autocratic contexts, states are ready to crack down on particular people. It is urgent to reverse this trend. Continue reading >>
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03 June 2025
The Questionable Concept of Protective Weapons
On 20 May 2025, the European Court of Human Rights handed down a landmark ruling in Russ v. Germany, finding that penalising a protester for wearing a makeshift visor breached his freedom of assembly. With its clear rejection of the German courts’ blanket approach, Strasbourg echoes long-standing constitutional concerns in German legal scholarship over the criminalisation of defensive gear at protests. Beyond Germany, the judgment affirms the Court’s role in shielding democratic participation across Europe. Continue reading >>
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02 October 2023
The Constitution Does Not Sleep
The South Korean government is embarking on a process to amend the current Assembly Act with the aim of enforcing stricter regulations on assemblies and demonstrations. Among other things, demonstrations at night are to be generally prohibited. I argue that the legislator’s plans disregard the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and fail to comply with standards of international law. Continue reading >>
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10 March 2023
The Imaged
A Basic-Law Monument and Some Buckets of Ink-Black Paint Continue reading >>
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09 November 2022
Meloni’s Illiberal Anti-Rave Law
Only ten days after it was sworn in and a week after it received the confidence vote from the Parliament, the new Italian government led by Giorgia Meloni presented its first decree-law containing numerous provisions on a variety of issues: health, justice, and security. The decree-law was the first legislative act presented by the new radical right-wing government. Members of the opposition argued that the decree, in particular the anti-rave norm, is a danger to the freedom of assembly of the Italian citizens and that is a law that Putin could have written. Continue reading >>
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14 September 2022
Giving Offence is no Offence
The death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, and thus the accession to the throne of King Charles III is an opportunity for reflection. However, what some have found here in the UK is that expressing republican sentiment in public has been met with a policing intervention – arrest or warning. This post considers the legality of expressing such views, and thus of the police response too, as well as some wider issues about the policing of protest, dissent and free speech. Continue reading >>
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