V. Sanctions and Remedies
99. States shall not impose criminal sanctions in the context of laws governing assemblies. All
criminal sanctions shall be specified within the penal code and not elsewhere. Assemblies
shall not be governed by provisions of criminal law different from the generally applicable
provisions of the penal code.
100. Sanctions shall be applied only in narrow and lawfully prescribed circumstances, on the
basis of generally applicable civil and criminal law, shall be strictly proportionate to the
gravity of the misconduct in question, and shall only be applied by an impartial, independent
and regularly constituted court, following a full trial and appeal process.
101. Liability shall be personal. Neither the organizers nor fellow participants of a public
assembly shall be subjected to sanctions of any kind on the basis of acts committed by
others.74
102.
Excessive responsibilities or liabilities shall not be imposed on assembly organizers.
1. Organizers shall not be subject to sanctions or dispersal merely for failure to notify.75
2. Organizers shall not be held liable for the public costs of assemblies.76
3. Organizers may only be subject to monetary sanction where all four of the following
conditions are met: they fail to notify;77 there is harm caused by the assembly;78 that harm
was reasonably foreseeable; and they fail to take reasonable steps within their power to
prevent the act or omission in question.
4. Assembly organizers shall not be penalized on the basis of acts committed by individuals
aimed at disrupting assemblies or clashes provoked by law-enforcement.
103. Where the right to peaceful assembly has been infringed, organizers and participants shall
have a right to a remedy.
1. The remedy shall include facilitation of future assemblies as necessary.
2. The remedy shall include measures designed to address the concerns of the assembly that
were harmed by unlawful prevention of the assembly.
3. The remedy shall include compensation for any harms that have occurred.
74 See International Pen and Others (on behalf of Ken Saro-Wira) v. Nigeria, Comm. Nos. 137/94,
139/94, 154/96 and 161/97 (1998), paras. 105-06.
The term personal shall be understood to include natural and legal persons.
75 See Malawi African Association and others v. Mauritania, Comm. Nos. 54/91, 61/91, 98/93, 164196/97 & 210/98 (2000), paras. 108-11.
76 Public costs include the cost of policing, the costs of clean up, and the obligation to obtain publicliability insurance.
77 Where, however, significant barriers to the ability to submit notification exist, this should constitute a
defense. Significant barriers include both legal and practical barriers, such as lack of ability to submit
notification via communication technology and geographical distance from the center where physical
submission of notification is required.
78 Harm in this context refers to violence or destruction of property.