The Utrecht Law Review has published a special issue on rule of law from below, in open access

Rule of Law from Below Special Issue

Cover Utrecht Law Review

Antoine Buyse, Katharine Fortin, Julie Fraser and Brianne McGonigle Leyh have co-edited a special open access issue of the Utrecht Law Review (Vol. 17, Issue 2, 2021) on the theme of 'Rule of Law from Below'. It investigates instances where actors beyond formal state institutions, who have no constitutional or other formal legal role, take it upon themselves to uphold and defend the rule of law.

This is especially important in today’s global context of shifts in power between state and non-state actors, as well as pervasive democratic and rule-of-law backsliding. The special issue follows an earlier international conference on the same theme, co-organised by the Montaigne Centre and SIM.

This is the table of contents:

  • Antoine Buyse, Katharine Fortin, Julie Fraser & Brianne McGonigle Leyh, The Rule of Law from Below - A Concept under Development
  • Clara Burbano Herrera & Yves Haeck, The Historical and Present-Day Role of Non-Governmental Organisations before the Inter-American Human Rights System in Documenting Serious Human Rights Violations and Protecting Human Rights and the Rule of Law Through Ensuring Accountability
  • Katharine Fortin, Of Interactionality and Legal Universes: A Bottom-Up Approach to the Rule of Law in Armed Group Territory
  • Ana Gascón Marcén, The Platform for the Protection of Journalists: A Mechanism for Cooperation between Non-Governmental Organisations and the Council of Europe
  • Barbara Grabowska-Moroz & Olga Śniadach, The Role of Civil Society in Protecting Judicial Independence in Times of Rule of Law Backsliding in Poland
  • Alexander Gilder, UN Peace Operations and the Role of the Local in (Re)Building the Rule of Law
  • Brianne McGonigle Leyh, The Role of Universities and Law Schools in Documenting Serious International Crimes and Advancing the Rule of Law
  • Aikaterini Tsampi, The Role of Civil Society in Monitoring the Executive in the Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights: Recasting the Rule of Law