ECHR and Venice Commission: Guarding Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and Facilitating Constitutional Resilience 

Conference Details

In 2025, we celebrate two landmark anniversaries in European legal history: the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the 35th anniversary of the Venice Commission. To mark these milestones, the Centre for European Law and Internationalisation (CELI) at the University of Leicester and the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law at BIICL will host a two-day conference on 6-7 November 2025 at BIICL in London.

The conference will explore the role of the ECHR and the Venice Commission in promoting human rights and the rule of law, and how a multi-layered human rights protection may contribute to constitutional resilience in the UK and across Europe.

• Day One (6 November) will feature invited speakers reflecting on the impact of the ECHR and the Venice Commission in the UK and Europe, including on the UK's constitutional framework and the UK's role in European human rights protection, and how a multi-layered protection of human rights may contribute to overall constitutional resilience.
  Download the programme for day 1 
  Download the Speaker Biographies for Day 1 
• Day Two (7 November) will adopt an academic format featuring thematic panels and research presentations, expanding the discussion through comparative perspectives on constitutional resilience and multi-layered rights protection. Abstract submissions  that engage with the theme of constitutional resilience in the context of multi-layered human rights protection were collected for this day of the conference through a call for papers.
  Download the programme for day 2
  Download the Speaker Biographies for Day 2 

This event is also part of the London-Leiden series of meetings, this year at its 64th session.

Event convened by Dr. Julinda Beqiraj, Maurice Wohl Senior Fellow in European Law at BIICL, Prof. Katja Ziegler, Sir Robert Jennings Professor of International Law and Co-Director of the Centre for European Law and Internationalisation (CELI), Assoc. Prof. Dr Ed Bates and Dr. Amal Sethi, Centre for European Law and Internationalisation (CELI) at the University of Leicester.