Our mission is to inform youth about the dangers of democratic backsliding through education and engagement, in order to achieve our goal of fostering a pan-European community of students active in the field of the rule of law in the EU.

Our History 

Our Rule of Law was founded in 2021, during the first year of our law studies at the University of Groningen. Looking for engagement outside our studies, we all happened to attend a lecture by Professor John Morijn on the democratic backslide in Poland. In the proceeding week, on a snowy February day, the four of us met on a walk and continued the discussion. Since then we have been cultivating a community of engaged students who share similar values.

The first event – The Our Rule of Law Festival was inspired by the ongoing Polish rule of law crisis. It was a 2 day-long event dedicated to the students of University of Groningen, which provided them with an opportunity to learn about the state of Polish rule of law from nine Polish rule of law heroes, who included, among others, Judge Igor Tuleya and Founders of FreeCourts Initiative. 

The second event – The Law and Politics of Protecting Liberal Democracy shifted its focus from the Polish democratic landscape to the state of liberal democracy as a whole. The topics discussed focused on issues such as: why people vote for illiberals, why judicial solidarity across borders is important and what is the role of young people in protecting liberal democracy. Our guests and speakers included, among others, Kim Lane Scheppele, Laurent Pech and Petra Bard. 

The third project – The Our Rule of Law Academy was an academic mentorship program that gathered 45 bachelor students from all over Europe and beyond, to work under the guidance of 23 professionals in the field and develop thematic policy proposals  to tackle the European rule of law crisis.  The Academy consisted of multiple stages. Firstly, the working groups conducted extensive research under the supervision of their mentors in the relevant field and formulated concrete policy solutions on the basis of research outcomes. Secondly, during the bootcamp in Brussels, the participants pitched their policy proposals to policy-makers and other rule of law professionals . Thirdly, after the Brussels bootcamp, the participants could implement the feedback received and handed in their final proposals. The result was a publication of  “How to Save European Democracy – Report from the Our Rule of Law Academy”. 

Our latest project – The Vote4OurRuleofLaw Fellowship was an initiative designed to engage young Europeans more actively in the European Parliament elections, aiming to increase turnout rates to levels more comparable with national elections. The Vote4ORoL Cohort includes 44 first-time voters, representing 15 different nationalities and 19 universities from all over Europe. Fellows worked on weekly tasks, structured to equip them with the knowledge needed to make informed voting decisions and to persuade others to participate actively in the electoral process. The program includes a curriculum that covers a range of topics from understanding what motivates young people to vote (or not), the connection between national concerns and EU policies, the importance of the rule of law in European democracy, to a practicalreality check on how the EP and EU decision-making processes work. The Fellowship resulted in publication of “First-Time Voters Handbook" summarising the research findings and providing essential information for making informed choices at the EP elections.