Interdisciplinary research on demonstration freedom commissioned by WODC

Dr Berend Roorda and Noor Swart (LL.M.) (University of Groningen) will conduct research into demonstration law on behalf of the Research and Data Center (WODC) of the Ministry of Justice and Security. They are part of a larger research team consisting of Prof. Heinrich Winter, Joachim Bekkering (LL.M.), Marieke Diekema (LL.M.) and Erwin Krol (LL.M.) (Pro Facto), Dr Joeri Bemelmans and Dr Alice Dejean de la Bâtie (Tilburg University) and Dr Klaas Rozemond (University of Amsterdam).

Tension between demonstration freedom, rights and interests

The right to demonstrate is a great asset in a democratic constitutional state. Nevertheless, it is not an absolute right, and it is important that the exercise of this right does not lead to a disproportionate prejudice to other rights, freedoms and interests.

The field of tension between the freedom to demonstrate on the one hand and other rights, freedoms and interests on the other occurs in recent years, especially with three rather intrusive types of demonstration:

• demonstrations in which demonstrators willfully cross the boundaries of the law;
• demonstrations in which fundamental rights of others may be compromised;
• demonstrations that may generate international tension.

Research question and methods

The central research question is whether Dutch demonstration law as laid down in, among others, the more than 35-year-old demonstration law - the Public Demonstrations Act - offers sufficient handles to regulate such rather intrusive demonstrations in a way that does justice to both the freedom to demonstrate and other rights, freedoms and interests.

The study includes a legal comparison with approaches to demonstrations in Germany, England and France. It also uses empirical research to chart how demonstration law functions in practice and to what extent the current legal framework is still adequate.

The WODC report is expected to be delivered in late summer 2025.

This article was published by the Faculty of Law.