Rhys Davies and Ben Keith host European Legal Debate in Brussels

28 May 2024

Rhys Davies and Ben Keith hosted a seminar on United Arab Emirates (UAE) Autocracy and Transnational Repression on 28 May 2024 in Brussels: the "2nd European Legal Debate - International Law in the Face of Autocracy: Examining the Role of the UAE."

The half-day seminar, at FULL CIRCLE in Brussels, convened lawyers, human rights activists, NGOs, and media to discuss the UAE’s troubling record of domestic repression and its extraterritorial campaign of transnational oppression.

Chaired by Rhys Davies the event highlighted specific cases of human rights abuses by the Emirati regime and examined the legal implications of this autocracy's exploitation of deficiencies in international law to exert authoritarian control over dissidents both at home and abroad.

"Autocracies pose a grave threat to the international rules-based order and human rights norms by systematically violating legal frameworks to consolidate their power and suppress opposition voices worldwide," commented co-host Ben Keith, of 5 St Andrew’s Hill Chambers.

The seminar was organised in cooperation with International Human Rights Advisors and NAÏMA Strategic Legal Services.