Legal observers are individuals, usually representatives of civilian

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

agencies, who attend public demonstrations,

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

s and other activities where there is a potential for conflict between the public or activists and the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, factory guard, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) ...

s, or other law enforcement personnel. The purpose of legal observers is to monitor, record, and report on any unlawful or improper behaviour. Legal or human rights observers act as an independent third party within a conflictual civil protest context, observing police behaviour in order to keep police accountable for their actions. Legal observers can write

incident report In a health care facility, such as a hospital, nursing home, or assisted living, an incident report or accident report is a form that is filled out in order to record details of an unusual event that occurs at the facility, such as an injury to a pa ...

s describing police violence and misbehaviour and compile reports after the event. The use of video and still cameras, incident reports and audio recorders is common.

History

It is thought that the concept of using legal observers first emerged during protests in the 1930s in the East End of London, where police agents provocateur were used during protests by the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...

(BUF). There were large counter-protests and it was alleged that the police sided with the BUF. Another case of legal observing was that carried out by the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

in the United States. Legal observers were used by

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

(then known as the National Council for Civil Liberties) in

Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, during the mid-1980s. The Wapping demonstration was in response to large protests by labour unions against the industrial relations policies of media magnate

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

. In the United States, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) holds registered trademarks for the words "legal observer" alone, as well as the words "legal observer" on a green background. The National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer certification program was established in 1968 in New York City in response to protests at Columbia University and citywide antiwar and civil rights demonstrations. That same year, guild students organized for the defense of people swept up in mass arrests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The NLG Legal Observer certification program requires legal observers to take a training course and is part of a comprehensive system of legal support designed to enable people to express their political views as fully as possible without unconstitutional disruption or interference by the police and with the fewest possible consequences from the criminal justice system. Legal observers are trained and directed by National Lawyer Guild attorneys. The presence of legal observers may serve as a deterrent to unconstitutional behavior by law enforcement during a demonstration. NLG worked with the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, and the

International Association of Democratic Lawyers International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) is an international organization of left-wing and progressive jurists' associations with sections and members in 50 countries and territories. Along with facilitating contact and exchange of v ...

to debut legal observers in Haiti during

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

protests of 2018. In other countries, legal observers are associated with such groups as

(UK), Green and Black Cross (UK), th
Scottish Community & Activist Legal Project (SCALP)
(Scotland), and others. In Australia in the 1970s, priests acted as legal observers during the large Moratorium Marches against the Vietnam War. In September 2000, Pt'chang Nonviolent Community Safety Group organised a large legal observer team for the S11 protest against the World Economic Forum in Melbourne. A decade later, during the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...

, an ongoing group of legal observer teams was established, that would go on to be called ''Melbourne Activist Legal Support'', observing actions throughout Melbourne. In Sydney, the Legal Observers Project, formally based at the Community Law Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney, and renamed Human Rights Monitors, was established in April 2001. This group reformed as Sydney Copwatch in 2009. Human rights organizations such as

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

sometimes dispatch human rights observers who serve similar roles to legal observers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legal Observer Civil rights and liberties Law enforcement Protests

History

See also

References