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7 May 2013: Visit to the Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament
On 7 May students from the course on EU Human Rights Law & Policy, taught by professor Annelies Verstichel, and joined by other interested students, visited the Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament. There they met with Alexandra Nagy, former LL.M student, who shared with the students her experiences at the Parliament.
23 April 2013: Debate with Cuban Sakharov Prize Winners & Sakharov Prize Ceremony
The Ladies in White, a Cuban dissident group which was awarded the 2005 Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, are finally able to visit the European Parliament to receive their prize.
LIHRICS, in cooperation with the European Parliament and Université Libre de Bruxelles offered students the opportunity to attend a debate with the Sakharov Prize Winners at the European Parliament on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 from 14.30 - 16.00. Keynote speakers were Berta Soler (President and co-founder of the Damas de Blanco), Belkis Cantillo Ramírez (member of Damas currently in Cuba), Laura María Labrada Pollán (daughter of co-founder Laura Pollán) and Blanca Reyes Castañon (President, Asociación Damas de Blanco in Spain).
The debate was followed by the official Sakharov Prize Award Ceremony at 17.45 in the European Parliament.
19 April 2013: Clinic with Alexander Hoefmans, Legal Advisor at the Belgian Federal Ministry of Justice
On Friday 19 April, Mr Alexander Hoefmans met with the LL.M students in Brussels to discuss the future accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Hoefmans explained the many legal and policy aspects of this milestone in European human rights discussion and answered the questions of the interested students.
March 2013: LIHRICS launches three legal clinics for promising human rights students
LIHRICS is proud to announce it has launched three legal clinics in which promising human rights students can participate first-hand in human rights legal research in cooperation with leading human rights organisations. A first clinic, in cooperation with the International Peace Information Service, focuses on human rights allegations against European companies. In the second project, in cooperation with the Belgian Institute for the Equality of Women and Men, students will analyse actual complaints regarding discrimination based on sex. The third project, in cooperation with the London-based Media Legal Defence Initiative, focuses on the online restrictions placed on multinationals in several jurisdictions worldwide. You can find more information here.
26 March 2013: Yared Hailemariam, human rights defender, on the situation in Ethiopia
Yared Hailemarian is an Ethiopian human rights defender and Master student at the KU Leuven Faculty of Law. Before coming to Leuven, he was, among other things, a senior human rights investigator at the Ethiopian Human Rights Council in Addis Ababa. On January 23, 2013 he testified before the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament on the situation in Ethiopia. This was already the second time he was called to inform the European Parliament on the very difficult conditions in his native country. On 26 March 2013 he gave an impressive testimony about his life, work and the situation in his home country.
15 March 2013: Clinic with Peter Noorlander of the Media Legal Defence Initiative
Brussels, 15.03.2013
Prof. Koen Lemmens and Peter NoorlanderOn Friday 15 March the Institute welcomed Peter Noorlander, who is the legal director of the Media Legal Defence Initiative in London. This organisation works globally to help journalists and small media outlets defend their rights. Mr. Noorlander engaged with the students and assistants in a very interesting discussion on such topics as the 'right to be forgotten' and freedom of expression in the age of internet. We thank Mr. Noorlander for his insight and enthusiasm, and the food for thought he provided us with!
28 February 2013: LL.M & Masterini Seminar on the Basic Principles of Belgian Constitutional Law
February 2013: The Institute welcomes three Masterini!
Leuven, 28.02.2012
Prof. Koen Lemmens together with Diana Pàmias (Spain), Rika Ott (Germany) and Zihan Yan (China), students of the European Master's programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (E.MA). These Masterini will spend their second semester in Leuven and conduct in-depth research on a specialized human rights topic.8 - 13 October 2012: LIHRICS in Venice
Venice, Italy, 13.10.2012
E.MA Moot Court 2012 - The bench (copyright EIUC)
Every year the Leuven Institute for Human Rights and Critical Studies is responsible for the thematic week on civil and political rights within the framework of the E.MA.
In October 2012, Professor Koen Lemmens therefore was the coordinator of week 4 of the E.MA programme. In the course of this week he taught various classes on, inter alia, the legal aspects of civil and political rights and freedom of expression. Just like in the previous years, Mr Mark Kelly from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties was the main specialist on Article 3 ECHR (prohibition of torture). Assistant Michaël Merrigan taught various workshops on the topics of subsidiarity in the European human rights system, freedom of expression and the right to physical and moral integrity.
The high point of the week was, without doubt, the moot court organized on Saturday, during which several teams competed against one another in a fictitious case. Not that fictitious, however, was the bench, which consisted not only of professor Koen Lemmens and representatives of the E.MA staff, but also of Professor Paul Lemmens, Belgian judge at the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg.
4 - 5 December 2012: RELIGARE Conference
RELIGARE Conference
Secularism and Religious Diversity in Europe:
Opportunities and Perspectives
4 - 5 December 2012
4 December: Law faculty, Leuven
5 December: Centre Albert Borschette, Brussels
Download the programme here
Visit the website here
18 October 2012: Seminar on Good Practices
Institute researcher Katayoun Alidadi today participated in the "Good Practice Exchange seminar on good practices public policies on the ground of religion or belief", which was held in Brussels. The final report, which was written by thematic expert Niall Crowley, provides a very interesting read and can be found here.
4 September 2012: Book Launch
BOOK LAUNCH
'A Test of Faith? Religious Diversity and Accommodation in the European Workplace'
(Edited by Katayoun Alidadi, Marie-Claire Foblets and Jogchum Vrielink)
London, 04.09.12
Silvio Ferrari (editor ‘Religion in Public Spaces’); Marie-Claire Foblets and Katayoun Alidadi (editors 'A Test of Faith?’) Not pictured: editors Sabrina Pastorelli and Jogchum Vrielink.
Issues of religious diversity in the workplace have become very topical and have been raised before domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights. Examining the controversial and constantly evolving position of religion in the workplace, this collection brings together chapters by legal and social science scholars and provides a wealth of information on legal responses across Europe, Turkey and the United States to conflicts between professional and religious obligations involving employees and employers.
The contributors examine how case law from the European Court of Human Rights, domestic experiences and comparative analyses can indicate trends and reveal established and innovative approaches. This multi-perspective volume will be relevant for legal practitioners, researchers, academics and policy-makers interested in human rights law, discrimination law, labour law and the intersection of law and religion.
- For more information, see: http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409445029
July 2012: Monterrey Summer School visits Leuven
Six students from the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, accompanied by professor Martha Sañudo, attended a one-month summer school on human rights, ethics and citizenship organized by the Institute for Human Rights and the Institute of Philosophy. The summer school included 4 weeks of intensive classes, as well as study trips and visits to, inter alia, the European Institutions in Brussels and Human Rights Watch.
The students and professor Sañudo on top of the tower of the KU Leuven's central library.
25 May 2012: Clinic with Ms Rosita Agnew
Clinic in European Human Rights Law with Ms Rosita Agnew, legal officer at the Complaints and Inquiries Unit of the Office of the European Ombudsman.
24 April 2012: Paul Lemmens elected judge at the European Court of Human Rights
On 24 April 2012 prof. Paul Lemmens, director of the Institute for Human Rights, was elected the new Belgian judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He received an absolute majority of the votes casted in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. More information on the Council of Europe's web page.
20 April 2012: Clinic with Mr. Charles-Michel Geurts
Clinic in European Human Rights Law with Mr. Charles-Michel Geurts, Deputy Head of Unit, Human Rights, European External Action Service, Brussels.
30 March 2012: Clinic with Mr. Ledi Bianku
Clinic in European Human Rights Law with Mr. Ledi Bianku, judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
March 2012: Internship programme launched
The internship programme has now been officially launched! All students of the KU Leuven's Faculty of Law can apply. Click here for more information!
24 February 2012: Clinic with prof. Egbert Myjer
Clinic in European Human Rights Law with prof. Egbert Myjer, judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
February 2012: Masterini welcomed
The Institute is happy to welcome three Masterini from the European Master's Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation! They will spend their second semester at KU Leuven, conducting research for their Master's thesis. They will defend this thesis next September in Venice, Italy.
In the picture: Emma Hickey (Ireland), Petr Pribyla (Czech Republic) and Déborah Forst (France), during their visit to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (March 2012)