Seminar: When ‘Rule of Law’ Becomes ‘Rule by Law’ to Silence Civil Society (København)

Perspectives from International Center for Non-for-Profit Law and Sexual Minorities

On August 22, we will kickstart a series of events about concrete countermeasures to the global tendency of attacks on civil society. In other words, a tendency has intensified for governments to pass laws and policies that are against basic rule of law and in particular freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.

This is done to silence civil society and therefore ‘rule of law’ is replaced by ‘rule by law’. We invite David Moore from ICNL (International Center for Not-for-Profit Law) and Frank Mugisha from SMUG (Sexual Minorities Uganda) to give an insight into their work on the topic. 

David Moore will present the current global and regional tendencies of closing space for civic participation, as documented by ICNL in their effort of monitoring freedoms of assembly and association in the world since 2001.

Frank Mugisha will present how Ugandan LGBT+ activists in coalition with other national CSO’s are working in their pursuit of securing the right to freedom of assembly, association and expression in Uganda in spite efforts by the authorities to silence them. 

Come to join the event if you would like to be informed on the topic of civic space from international and local perspectives, as well as if you want to join the discussion.

For the event, there will be a Q&A section as well as a joint discussion on possible responses available for individuals, CSO’s and governments to counter attacks on civil society.

David Moore, Vice-President of Legal Affairs at ICNL, has conducted legal assessment of civil society laws and has provided technical assistance on law reform projects in a wide range of countries, as diverse as Bulgaria, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, and has served 10 years as a professor at the Central European University in Budapest, with a focus on civil society law.

Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of SMUG, is a strong advocate for LGBT+ rights in Uganda, and he has been awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2011 for his work. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, and last year, he was included in Fortune Magazine’s list of the world’s greatest leaders in 2017.

Practicalities

Participant fee: Free of charge 

Registration: Registration can be done on this website. 

Deadline for registration: 08:00 August 22

Language: English

More information: Sara Brandt, [email protected]