Right to Freedom of Association

PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 2023

In July 2023, ICNL and the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) led advocacy efforts by a group of civil society and academic partners to urge the UN Human Rights Committee to develop a General Comment on the right to freedom of association – the only core civic freedom that has not yet been addressed by authoritative guidance from the Committee. As part of a continuing effort to sensitize Committee members to the need for a General Comment on association, ICNL and ECNL developed a comprehensive report summarizing UN sources of law relating to association, drawing on materials from the Committee, UN Human Rights Council, and UN Special Rapporteurs. We look forward to continuing to engage with the Committee and other mechanisms to develop and codify norms relating to the protection and exercise of associational rights.