Human Rights Committee

Protest Defence Rights

Our committee supports the legal defence of protesters, activists, and civil society members exercising their rights to assembly and expression.

We provide resources for ECBA members representing those detained during demonstrations, document patterns of suppression in various European jurisdictions, and promote Council of Europe standards protecting the right to protest, drawing on lessons from cases like the Belarus protests and Gezi Park defendants.

Human Rights

We offer a newsletter for our Working Group — would you like to stay up to date?

Human Rights Officer: Alexis Anagnostakis

Alexis Anagnostakis is a distinguished criminal lawyer and Barrister admitted to the Hellenic Supreme Court.
His practice focuses extensively on international criminal law, human rights, and high-profile defence cases involving allegations of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

 

Contact: human.rights.committee@ecba.org

If you are an ECBA member interested in joining a working group, please email us, providing a brief outline of your reasons for wanting to join.

Latest Posts

Members are invited to identify and bring to the WG’s attention potential new areas of development for the WG.

Current and future initiatives

The ECBA Human Rights Committee is engaged in a variety of current and future initiatives, ranging from legislative monitoring to practical projects supporting defence rights across Europe. Members are warmly invited to join specific projects within this groups, contributing their expertise and shaping the outcomes together.

Strategic litigation and court interventions

The HRC files third-party interventions and amicus briefs in landmark cases before European and domestic courts, ensuring the criminal defence bar shapes the law that governs it.

Drafting and Publishing Statements

The HRC publishes expert statements on judicial independence, lawyer-client privilege, and fair trial rights – driving policy reform and solidarity across Europe and beyond.

Day of the Endangered Lawyer

Every January 24th, ECBA’s HRC stands with persecuted lawyers worldwide coordinating advocacy, public outreach, and legal interventions to defend those who defend others.

If you are an ECBA member interested in joining a working group, please email the secretariat at secretariat@ecba.org, providing a brief outline of your reasons for wanting to join.