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New Report Highlights Freedom of Assembly Litigation Gaps and Opportunities

By Raphael CLD
15 January 2026

New Report Highlights Freedom of Assembly Litigation Gaps and Opportunities

A joint report by the Kennedy Human Rights Center and the Centre for Law and Democracy identifies key gaps in human rights jurisprudence and strategic litigation opportunities on freedom of assembly.

In January 2026, The Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center (Kennedy Human Rights Center) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) launched a new report titled Freedom of Peaceful Assembly: Litigation Gaps and Opportunities at the International and Regional Levels. The report provides an in-depth assessment of the standards relating to freedom of peaceful assembly developed through the jurisprudence of international and regional human rights mechanisms, as well as strategic litigation opportunities to strengthen the framework for protecting the right to freedom of assembly worldwide.

Despite existing and fairly developed catalogues of key standards, such as those set out by the UN Human Rights Committee in General Comment No. 37 (Right of Peaceful Assembly), the number of cases concerning freedom of assembly before international, regional, and subregional human rights mechanisms has been limited. Meaningful engagement with substantive freedom of assembly issues occurs only in 49 cases across the human rights mechanisms covered, namely mechanisms at the UN level (the UN Human Rights Committee), in Africa (the African Commission and Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice and the East African Court of Justice) and in the Americas (the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights).

Even these low figures hide how sparse the jurisprudence of these mechanisms is in establishing freedom of assembly standards. Most of the cases involve claims of breaches of other human rights, leading to freedom of assembly claims being treated rather briefly.

To help address this issue, the Kennedy Human Rights Center and CLD developed this report to map out key gap-filling needs for the protection of freedom of assembly. These include:

Further elaboration of the scope of the right (e.g., the right not to participate, when an assembly is no longer peaceful and hence no longer protected, and the types of illegal behavior short of violence or property destruction which are not allowed).
Clarity on the positive obligation of States (e.g., putting in place an enabling legal framework, facilitating and providing security for assemblies, tolerating disruption, and raising awareness about freedom of assembly).
Clarity on the restrictions that can be placed on assemblies (specifically concerning notification regimes, time, manner, and place restrictions, and the use of force).
Elaboration of a clear framework of accountability and redress (e.g., obligation to investigate serious breaches).

This resource will serve as a practical tool that empowers global actors litigating and researching freedom of assembly to continue working toward stronger protections of this fundamental right.