Helga Law Journal - 01.01.2021, Page 98

Helga Law Journal Vol. 1, 2021
100 101
International Legal Research Group
Beginning of a Trilateral Legal Research
Group
Ingunn Elísabet Markúsdóttir
Vice President for Academic Activites of ELSA Iceland 2017-2018
In 2018, ELSA Iceland, ELSA LSE and ELSA Paris Nanterre oversaw a trilateral
Legal Research Group researching the status of the right to protest in each of their
ELSA group’s home jurisdiction. The work was launched at the anniversary year
of the wave of international protests launched by French students in 1968, which
tried and tested the status of this human right in states across the world. The aim
of the research was to cover the most important aspects of the right to protest.
The questions included discussions in the context of the right to protest about
constitutional protection, effective remedies, impact of the ECHR, state
obligations in times of emergency, restrictions on the right to protest with
reference to order and prevention of crime, positive obligations required by the
state, digital protests, and freedom of speech, and the right to protest in academic
institutions. The outcome was an extremely interesting piece of research, which is
now finally ready for publishment here in Iceland.
Legal Research Group projects are a vital part of ELSA’s activities. By
participating in such an assignment, students and young lawyers get the
opportunity to advance their academic skills by researching and writing about a
certain topic. Furthermore, it can be a steppingstone for young professionals, as
the research are generally published in respected academic magazines. When a few
ELSA groups decide to work on a research together, the participants get the
opportunity to be published in more than one country across Europe, which can
help them improve their academic possibilities significantly. It is therefore
extremely beneficial for students and newly graduated lawyers to be able to
participate in an assignment like this one. Moreover, it is important for lawyers and
law students to widen their horizon and be aware of how other jurisdictions
operate when it comes to human rights issues. By participating in a Legal Research
Group project, students and young lawyers gain the ability to criticize the things
that could and should be better in their own jurisdictions, as well as seeing how
other countries are dealing with the same issues. The benefits of participation in
such assignments are therefore multifaceted, as the participants get the
opportunity to grow both as academics and individuals throughout the process.
It is my sincere hope is that this report will help students and young lawyers
to build their interest on the right to protest and human rights in general.
Furthermore, I believe that this report will be a helpful resource when it comes to
informing students across Europe of the current protections of the right to protest
in three different jurisdictions.