Notes and Changes

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Please also note that this event will be recorded, with the exception of any live audience questions.

Event

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken worldwide in response to it have had significant implications for human rights. Over the last months, several national authorities have declared states of emergency, restricting many fundamental rights including freedom of expression, access to information and privacy. In addition, some governments have adopted laws to fight disinformation, and it is unlikely to be long before judicial authorities will have to rule on cases related to freedom of the press and freedom of expression in relation to these measures.

The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, in partnership with UNESCO and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford), is hosting this webinar to discuss the challenges for freedom of expression, access to information, privacy and related rights posed by measures adopted by governments around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Related topics for discussion may include criminal justice, privacy, and the proportionality of the measures taken during the pandemic in relation to freedom of expression, as well as the role and function of domestic and international accountability mechanisms, including the judiciary, human rights commissions, ombudspersons, special rapporteurs and treaty bodies. The webinar will be held in English and will be followed by a similar one in French on Monday 29 June. Both webinars will be presented by high-profile speakers (including judges from regional human rights courts, UN experts, academics, practitioners and civil society representatives) and are part of a series of webinars for judicial operators on legal challenges related to freedom of expression in relation with the COVID-19 pandemic, with the support of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the ECOWAS Court of Justice and Open Society Foundations.

Programme: Monday 22 June, 3.00 - 4.45 PM BST

3.00 PM BST: Opening remarks by the Chair, Prof Kate O'Regan (Director of the Bonavero Institute and former Judge of the South African Constitutional Court)

3.05 - 3.15 PM BST: Presentation of UNESCO's short study on freedom of expression by Joan Barata (Center for Internet and Society and Cyber Policy Center, Stanford University)

3.15 – 4.15 PM BST: Panel discussion with Justice Edward Amoako Asante (President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice), Judge Darian Pavli (European Court of Human Rights), Joan Barata and Jennifer Robinson (Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers)

4.15 - 4.45 PM BST: Remarks by the Chair and Q&A