Prof. Angelika Nußberger travelled to Warsaw on 25 April 2024 to take part in a meeting with the Polish Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, as a member of the Venice Commission. The reason for the meeting was an exchange of views on the law drafted by the Polish Ministry of Justice to amend the law on the National Judicial Council, which aims to restore the right to elect judges.
The Venice Commission is an advisory body to the Council of Europe on constitutional issues, which is committed to the principles of democracy and the rule of law. Information on the work of the Venice Commission can be found here.
Between 6 and 8 November 2023, our postdoctoral researchers Dr. Júlia Miklasová, Dr. Paula Rhein-Fischer, and Dr. Cathérine Van de Graaf organised a symposium on "Misappropriation and Human Rights Implosion" at Schloss Herrenhausen in Hanover. VolkswagenStiftung funded and co-organised the event, which was part of the thematic week "Human Rights in Times of Multiple Challenges - Perspectives from Science and Society". The symposium brought together early career and established researchers from around the world and disciplinary background (law, sociology, linguistics, history, political science and IR). The participants discussed the topic from different angles, bringing together their unique scholarly experience and diverse methodological and disciplinary approaches.
During three days of the symposium, six panels examined the topic of misappropriation of human rights through different perspectives in both authoritarian and democratic regimes. The panels critically assessed the notion itself, focused on the key actors involved (ranging from States, religious, conservative groups, NGOs, and transnational networks), the strategies employed, as well as the locus of contestations (from domestic politics, domestic and international courts, up to international diplomacy). The symposium explored the theme through more general lenses and zoomed in on specific cases from across the world. Ultimately, the participants highlighted the implications of the phenomenon of misappropriation of human rights for the future of human rights, society and international relations.
The conveners presented the video results of the focus groups conducted with young university students from different European countries on the topic of “Good Name of Human Rights? Does it Matter?”. The symposium closed with a keynote address by one of the leading voices on the subject of misappropriation and the implosion of human rights Prof. Katharine Young (Associate Dean for Faculty and Global Programs, Professor, and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at Boston College Law School) entitled "Human Rights Misappropriation and Legal Form”.
We are grateful for the funding and co-organization of this event to the VolkswagenStiftung.
Prof. Dr Adam Bodnar was sworn in as Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General of Poland in Donald Tusk's cabinet on Wednesday, 13 December 2023. As part of the Global Faculty, he has been a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Cologne since February 2022 and will remain so until January 2024, during which time he has provided long-term support for the work of the Academy for European Human Rights Protection. In addition to supervising courses, seminars and doctoral students, his duties at the Academy have included participating in conferences.
Professor Bodnar's academic work focuses on constitutional law and human rights. He was the Commissioner for Civil Rights in Poland, whose aim is to protect citizens from unlawful state behaviour and to preserve human rights. Professor Bodnar was and is involved in numerous non-governmental organisations, e.g. Client Earth Poland, which are dedicated to the protection of human rights. He is also the author or co-author of numerous scientific publications, particularly in the field of human rights. Adam Bodnar has been honoured with European and international awards for his work.
We are delighted for Professor Bodnar and wish him all the best for his important tasks as Minister of Justice!
