Rotterdam Bar Association Opens the 2026 Legal Year with a Timely Debate on the Right to Demonstrate
The Rotterdam Bar Association has invited Banga Assam H. E & Associates to attend the official Opening of the Legal Year 2026, held on Thursday, 17 September 2026, at Arminius Rotterdam. This year's edition tackled one of the most debated legal and societal issues of our time: the right to demonstrate, in theory and in practice.
A Timely and Topical Theme
The right to protest sits at the intersection of fundamental freedoms, public order, and the responsibilities of the state. In choosing this theme for the opening of the legal year, the Rotterdam Bar Association placed a spotlight on a subject that has grown increasingly urgent across Europe, as demonstrations become both more frequent and more contested in the public sphere.
The afternoon opened with registration and a warm reception, followed by opening remarks setting the tone for a program that combined legal expertise, artistic perspective, and interactive debate.
Two Voices, Two Perspectives
The first keynote came from Willem Jebbink, a lawyer widely recognized as an authority on the right to demonstrate, who offered a grounded legal analysis of how this right is exercised and protected in practice.
He was followed by Eelco Moerman, judge and professor of Jurisprudence in Theory and Practice, who addressed a more delicate question: the limits of a judge's own freedom of expression. Moerman explained that a judge's voice is never purely personal because it carries the weight of the judiciary as an institution, a judge cannot speak out publicly without first consulting the organisation. This constraint, rooted in the Gedragscode Rechtspraak (Code of Conduct for the Judiciary), illustrated a striking paradox: those who interpret the law on freedom of expression are themselves bound by strict limits on their own speech.
An Artistic Interlude
After a short break, actor Mimoun Oaissa brought a different register to the stage, offering a personal and artistic reflection on the theme a reminder that the right to demonstrate is not only a legal question, but also a deeply human and cultural one.
The Art of Framing
The afternoon's panel discussion and debate, moderated by Julia Mendlik, turned to public speaking and persuasion, with a particular focus on the art of framing a skill central to lawyers' work in the courtroom, in the media, and in society more broadly.
Framing was presented not as manipulation, but as the craft of presenting a perspective comparable, for instance, to the difference between "climate change" and "global warming," two terms describing the same phenomenon but carrying very different emotional weight. Three guiding principles were put forward for effective framing:
Be clear.
Speak from the other person's perspective.
Focus on shared opinions and values.
Four Statements, One Lively Debate
The panel and audience then engaged with four provocative statements on the regulation of demonstrations:
Statement 1: Demonstrators should be registered and identifiable including through camera surveillance so that police and prosecutors can more easily trace individuals responsible for incidents.
Statement 2: A separate government compensation fund should be created to cover civil damages arising from demonstrations, given the difficulty of proving which demonstrators caused specific harm with participants cautioning that registration risks wrongly implicating people simply for being listed in a database.
Statement 3: Mayors should be granted authority to restrict the content of demonstrations when they are socially sensitive or charged.
Statement 4: Demonstrations should not be permitted when they jeopardize the general performance of police duties.
These statements sparked a rich exchange between legal professionals, highlighting the tension between public safety, freedom of assembly, and the risk of overreach by authorities.
Closing in Good Company
The formal program concluded with closing remarks, followed by a convivial networking reception a fitting close to an afternoon that balanced serious legal reflection with the collegial spirit of the Rotterdam legal community.
Banga Assam H. E & Associates was proud to be among the guests invited by the Rotterdam Bar Association to this year's opening, and values the opportunity to engage with peers on themes central to the practice of law and the protection of fundamental rights.
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