Assignment 1

Freedom of Assembly and

Universal standard set by
UDHR 1948
Corporate Law and Ethics - HM 322

Muhammad Kashif
2017287
6/13/2020
Freedom of Assembly and universal standard
set by UDHR 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948
The massive human rights violations and barbarous acts committed during the
Second World War which outraged the conscience of mankind, including the
atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, led to the adoption of an international
human rights instrument. In 1948, representatives from the 50 member states of the
United Nations sit down together to list down all the fundamental human rights that
everyone in the world should enjoy. Later down the year, United Nation’s General
Assembly announced The Universal Declaration of Human Rights UDHR in its third
session.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) consists of 30 rights and

freedoms that belong to every human being in this world, enlisting all the human
rights that everyone over the world ought to appreciate. It outlines rights and
freedoms that every person is equally entitled and that no one can take away from
anyone. It stays as significant today as it was on the day in 1948. The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a noteworthy document. Just because for the
first time, the world had a globally agreed document that set apart out all people as
being free and equivalent, regardless of colour, creed, sex, religion, or different
attributes. The 30 rights and opportunities set out in the UDHR incorporate the
option to be liberated from torment, the privilege to the opportunity of articulation,
the right to education, and the option to look for shelter. It incorporates common
and political rights, for example, the rights to life, freedom, and protection. It
additionally incorporates financial, cultural, and social rights, for example, the rights
to social security, wellbeing, and satisfactory lodging.

Many legal binding human rights treaties have been developed on the basis of the
UDHR document. It continues to serve as a foundation for the establishment of
national and international laws and standards.

The Freedom of Assembly

The right to freedom of assembly is among the fundamental human rights outlined in
the domestic law of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the International Bill of
Human Rights. Domestically, freedom of assembly is outlined in Articles 16 and 17 of
the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Internationally, freedom of
assembly is outlined in Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR), Articles 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), and Article 8 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR). These rights are among some of the essential requirements of a
democratic nation and a critical means of exercising many other legal, cultural,
economic, political and social rights, enabling citizens to express their political views,
participate in artistic activities, participate in religious activities, shape and join trade
unions, elect leaders to represent their interests and keep them accountable.

Everyone in the world has the right to freedom of assembly to gather around and
collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ideas.
People have the right to form and be part of any organization, a political party,
association or voluntary group. Nobody can compel anyone to belong to an
ideological group, association, political party, or affiliation if they don’t want to. The
right of assembly also means that any person can’t be forced to join certain groups of
people or public gathering against his / her will; however, he can join any group or
any public gatherings if he wants to.

The right to freedom of peaceful assembly guarantees the right of groups and
individuals to meet for a shared cause or for the motive of raising awareness among
them, publicly sharing their opinions in peaceful demonstrations. The privilege shall
apply to all assemblies for peaceful purposes, irrespective of the degree of public
support for the intent of the meeting.

Freedom of Assembly and universal standard set by UDHR 1948

Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) focuses on the
freedom of peaceful assembly. The article guarantees the fundamental right of
assembly to every citizen. Every citizen has the right to form corporations and hold
public meetings without interference by the government. The Article ensures the
right of every citizen to go to public or private gatherings.

The term Assembly has been defined by Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE) in their Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly as:

“Assembly means the intentional and temporary presence of a number of

individuals in a public place for a common expressive purpose.”

Freedom of Assembly and Constitution of Pakistan

Article 16 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan states that:
“Every citizen shall have the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, subject
to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of public order.”

Inscribed as one of the basic rights in international law; the right to freedom of
assembly peacefully is a tool to practice many other civil, cultural, political,
economic, and social rights. This includes the freedom to participate for a particular
reason in peaceful gatherings, conventions, marches, sit-ins, demonstrations, and
other temporary conventions. The State has a duty to protect peaceful
demonstrations, take steps to encourage peaceful assemblies, and not restrict this
right for any particular group based on colour, ethnicity, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinions, or any other arbitrary reason. According to international
law, the right to freedom of assembly is not absolute and can be subject to
restrictions under certain conditions.

According to the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, every citizen has
the right to assemble in peace without bringing any weapons, subject to appropriate
limitations imposed by law in the interest of public safety. Nevertheless, limitations
placed in the name of "public interest" frequently fail to test necessity and
proportionality and weaken the nature of the right.

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan clearly defines the political rights in
the form of freedoms of assembly, association, and speech in Articles 16, 17, and 19.
However, in the same articles, the constitution sets clear boundaries that ensure
those rights. The right freedom of assembly, whose one form is a demonstration,
must be peaceful, unarmed, and must not disrupt public order.

The right to freedom of assembly seems to have been the subject of interpretation
and decision making by the courts. In Suo Motu Case No 7 of 2017, the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that: "The right of freedom of assembly is
acknowledged as a right to maintain the democratic order, but it cannot be used to
abolish democratically elected government. The right to assemble cannot be used to
bring about a coup or an uprising. It further stated that "The right of assembly,
freedom of association, and freedom of expression cannot be exercised by violating
the fundamental rights. Public meetings cannot be held on roads without obtaining
permission. Nor can a road be used or assembled indefinitely as a camping ground.”

Responsibilities of a State

States have a responsibility to guarantee that everyone’s right to freedom of

assembly is ensured, particularly when a certain group of people is protesting against
certain policies of the state and demanding their rights regardless of whether they
are human rights, financial rights, or some other problems. States not only have a
responsibility to protect peaceful gatherings but also take proper measurements to
provide necessary facilities to them.

Even in some democratic nations, sometimes in order to protest the rights to

freedom of assembly often stands in contrast with laws that protect public safety.
Police are allowed by legislation in several communities to dissolve any group that
risks the safety of the public, or which the police can't handle.

States are often found guilty of violating the rights to freedom of assembly in order
to suppress the critical voices. Governments can’t place any restrictions on the
exercise of the peaceful assembly; however, there are some situations where the
state can place restrictions on the rights to freedom of assembly as prescribed by law
and. In these situations, protestors are liable to capture, viciousness, dangers, or
intimidation. These restrictions placed on the rights to freedom of assembly are
necessary for the following situations:

• State can impose restrictions on the rights to freedom of assembly in order to

protect national security and public safety.

• To stop any crimes, the state can impose restrictions on the rights to freedom
of assembly.

• For the protection of health or morals, the state can restrict the rights to
freedom of assembly.

• If the rights and freedom of other citizens are endangered, the state can force
limitations on the rights to freedom of assembly.

• People are entitled to gather around to speak and to be heard, as long as they
are doing this peacefully. The state shouldn’t enforce any sort of limitations on the
rights to freedom of assembly as long as people remain nonviolent.

In democratic nations, the leaders of the assemblies or gatherings can choose the
time and place of the gathering that seems to be most appropriate to fulfill the
purpose of the gatherings i.e. to make their voices heard. As explained above states
can legitimately put certain restrictions on such public gatherings in some conditions
without affecting the essence of rights to freedom of assembly. For instance, if some
people form a group to protest at night in the middle of the city, the state can
legitimately ban such purposely loud demonstrations as it will disturb many citizens
from sleeping. But the state can’t ban any gathering outside the parliament building
during a session. If a group of people wants to protest by closing all the important
roads of the city for the whole day, the state has a legitimate reason to refuse any of
the requests like that as it will affect thousands of people from their daily routine
work, like preventing ambulances to reach hospitals in time, children won’t be able
to go to their schools, many people won’t be able to go to their workplaces for their
jobs and the list goes on.

States have constructive and negative responsibilities with respect to peaceful

gatherings. The positive responsibility of a state is to support and defend such
peaceful protests by maintaining public order, organizing traffic flow, and protecting
the demonstrators from the people who want to provide any harm to those who are
protesting. The negative responsibility of the state is that if some people want to
protest peacefully, the state can’t enforce any restrictions on such gatherings.

Sometimes there are some protests that police are unaware of, either because such
demonstrations occur spontaneously or because the protest was banned. Even so,
states don’t have the right to enforce any restrictions on such peaceful protest
despite being unaware of such demonstrations unless or until the protestors cross
their limits outlined by the law.

States do not impose restrictions on the freedom of assembly simply because the
participants wish to convey their not so popular ideas, or because the government
thinks that these ideas will contravene the interests of society. Obviously, states will
legally enforce restrictions on a protest when public safety is threatened. For
instance, when a protest that was initially peaceful, suddenly becomes violent, when
protesters start breaking into shops, setting cars on fire, etc. the state has the right
to use force against the crowd to protect other citizens’ life and property. But in such
cases, the force that has been used shouldn’t ever surpass the minimum force
required to restore peace and tranquillity.

The responsibility of the State and its law enforcement agencies according to
international law is to promote the enjoyment of the right to freedom of assembly.
Under the 1990 United Nations Fundamental Rules on the Use of Force and Weapons
by Law Enforcement Agencies:

“In the dispersal of illegal but non-violent demonstrations, law enforcement

agencies are to prevent the use of force or, if this is not possible, limit that force to
the minimum required degree.”

The right to freedom of assembly is a basic essential for any society. While most
nations' constitutions guarantee freedom of assembly, however, few governments
uphold this fundamental right without undue limitations. Nations' lawful systems
must contain viable, clear, and sensible arrangements on the right to protest;
imposing restrictions on the right to freedom of assembly should be the last option.

Importance of Freedom of Assembly

Assemblies can be platforms to advocate for change and for individuals to make
everyone aware of the issues they are facing, regardless of whether it is human
rights, financial rights, or some other issues. If a certain group of people is facing
some problems they can use the right of assembly to raise awareness among others
about the issues they are facing. Those who are facing problems by certain policies of
the government can peacefully assemble protest against the government so that
their voices should be heard and their issues should be resolved.

In democratic nations, social changes can be brought by gatherings and peaceful

protests. Upon listening to the word freedom of assembly the first thing that comes
in our mind is that some opposition leaders or popular social rights activists leading a
mass exhibition in our city, or a huge protest in the biggest square of our country.
But gatherings can take an extraordinary variety of shapes.

Free assemblies will benefit nations a lot in crucial ways. Freedom of assembly is an
effective way b which the citizens can share their opinions toward their
representatives as well as other people in society. It encourages national discourse
and diversity and has been an appropriate way of bringing revolutionary changes in
society.

Since protesting publically generally takes fewer resources than the other ways to
successfully convey messages, many powerless frequently use this method to convey
their messages. Demonstrations will annoy us, especially when we're trying to go to
someplace, and because of the demonstration; the shortest path to our destination
is blocked. Indeed it can be frustrating, but as a member of the same community, we
should realize how essential it is that our problems should be resolved and our voices
should be heard.

If any person wants to utilize his rights to freedom of assembly or gathering he can
practice his rights not only by taking part in rallies, protests, or marches but can also
do so by going in the meetups held in the public parks, walk-outs, vigils,
demonstrations, public theatre performances, or sit-ins. Since meetups held in the
public parks, walk-outs, vigils, demonstrations, or public theatre performances are
also covered by rights to freedom of peaceful assembly.
In general, freedom of assembly is recognized as one of the pillars of a democratic
society. Trying to protect this right is seen as important to the creation of an open
and tolerant society in which distinct and often competing groups live with each
other in a pluralistic environment. Freedom of assembly is also essential for cultural
development and expression, as well as for the survival of minorities.

Basically, the right to freedom of assembly is of great significance to society as it

allows all people the ability to have a voice and to communicate openly with each
other in public under a common purpose or mutual interest.

References
1. https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
2. https://www.liberties.eu/en/news/freedom-of-assembly-public-education/13174
3. https://www.livescience.com/21229-freedom-of-assembly.html
4. http://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/freedom-of-Assembly.pdf
5. https://www.apc.org/en/pubs/shrinking-spaces-online-freedom-assembly-and-assoc
6. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/571821-the-right-to-protest
7. https://www.rightofassembly.info/country/pakistan
8. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Freedom_of_Assembly
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights
10. https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-
discrimination/human-rights-scrutiny/public-sector-guidance-sheets/right-freedom-
assembly-and-association
11. https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-
assembly/freedom-of-assembly-overview/
12. https://humanrightshouse.org/we-stand-for/freedom-of-assembly/#latest
13. https://humanrightshouse.org/we-stand-for/freedom-of-assembly/