OSCE/ODIHR marks the 10th anniversary of its Panel of Experts on the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

28 April 2016

OSCE/ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link, speaking at the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on OSCE Contribution to the Protection of National Minorities, in Vienna, 29 October 2015 (OSCE/Micky Amon-Kröll) Photo details

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 28 April 2016 celebrated the 10th anniversary of the inaugural meeting of its Panel of Experts on the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly.

Following the inaugural meeting in April 2006, the 11-member Panel was officially established to advise ODIHR on freedom of peaceful assembly issues in the OSCE area. The Panel’s task is to act as an advisory and consultative body to ODIHR for promoting freedom of peaceful assembly in the OSCE region by collecting information on major trends in law and practice, reviewing legislation and providing guidance on international standards, and by facilitating training and capacity building in the area of freedom of peaceful assembly.

ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link, said: "The Panel has helped ODIHR develop many of its tools in the area of monitoring, training and capacity building, including the Handbook on Monitoring Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, and has used the widely cited Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly to help improve legislation in a range of participating States. We warmly thank them for their contribution to helping OSCE participating States guarantee this vital freedom."

Since its founding, ODIHR and the Panel have, jointly with the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, drafted two editions of the Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (2007 and 2010), with a third edition scheduled to be finalized in the second half of 2016.

The Panel, composed of eminent human rights experts from across the OSCE area, has also provided guidance on monitoring assemblies by contributing to ODIHR’s Handbook on Monitoring Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and has assisted ODIHR in drafting 18 legal opinions for 10 OSCE participating States and Tunisia, a Mediterranean Partner for Co-operation. Panel members were also involved in the preparation of ODIHR’s recently published Human Rights Handbook on Policing Assemblies.