Conference: A Dangerous Business - report

A Dangerous Business: The human cost of advocating against environmental degradation and land rights violations, took place at the University of London's Senate House, on 31 October 2011.

The discussion included issues of extractive industries and indigneous communities, land rights, tar sands, Free, Prior and Informed Consent, the UN Ruggie Framework and Guidelines on business and human rights, and the kinds of threats human rights defenders face as they defend environment and land.

COP21 Highlights the risks that land and environmental defenders face

PBI Honduras observers attend the Funeral of indigenous leader and land rights defender Juan MartinezOn Saturday 12 December 2015, delegates at the COP21 Paris Climate Conference signed the agreement that will form the core of the global response to climate change from the time it comes into force in 2020.

While the deal was hailed by many leaders and commentators as a remarkable diplomatic success for its ambitious warming targets, representatives from indigenous nations around the world took to the streets of Paris to draw attention to the key clauses that had been removed: those that made binding commitments to the protection of human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples in climate change solutions. In the final text, all references to these rights were relegated to the non-binding, aspirational words of the preamble.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders visits UK

“They are ‘Gandhis’ and ‘Mandelas’. They are ‘Rosa Parks’ and ‘Malalas’. They are also ordinary individuals, lawyers, women activists, community leaders, journalists, unionists and environmentalists who strive to re-claim our rights and promote our freedoms.”

So begins a powerful statement by Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, ahead of International Human Rights Day on 10 December. The statement emphasises the crucial role of human rights defenders in international law, calling on states to adopt concrete measures for their protection and parliamentarians to be vigilant against laws that restrict civil society space and criminalise human rights activities.

Shakespeare and the Law

PBI UK and Alliance for Lawyers at Risk celebrate the courage of threatened lawyers through the works of Shakespeare at ‘Shakespeare and the Law’ Event

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.” Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Shakespeare and the Law - 16 November 2015

PBI UK and the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk cordially invite you to ‘Shakespeare and the Law’ on the evening of 16 November 2015.

Read an article about the event in The Times Law diary here.

PBI UK and the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk are organising a special event on the theme of ‘Shakespeare and the Law’ on 16 November 2015, 6:30 pm to start at 7:00 pm at the Middle Temple Hall.

The evening is being held to honour the courage of lawyers who take risks on a daily basis to defend the Rule of Law. Performances will be given by: Sheila Hancock, Alex Jennings, Juliet Stevenson and Samuel West. As well as recorder players from the Royal College of Music, London performing Fantazias (1680) by Henry Purcell.

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