{"id":6393,"date":"2026-03-09T16:13:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/lawbulletin\/?p=6393"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:13:29","slug":"dignity-democracy-blog-the-venice-commission-kashmir-minneapolis-and-post-colonial-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/lawbulletin\/2026\/03\/09\/dignity-democracy-blog-the-venice-commission-kashmir-minneapolis-and-post-colonial-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Dignity &amp; Democracy Blog: The Venice Commission, Kashmir, Minneapolis, and Post-Colonial Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p id=\"ember1535\">The latest posts on the Dignity &amp; Democracy Blog discuss recent developments from the Venice Commission, ongoing violence in Kashmir and Minneapolis, and the shortfalls in implementing the dignity vision in post-colonial&nbsp;Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"ember1536\"><a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.exeter.ac.uk%2Fhumanrightsanddemocracyforumblog%2F2026%2F02%2F09%2Frule-of-law-in-the-service-of-democracy-and-dignity-the-updated-rule-of-law-checklist-of-the-venice-commission-by-qerim-qerimi%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CS.Miller%40exeter.ac.uk%7Cca9592d8856e4d3b4ade08de7aeae306%7C912a5d77fb984eeeaf321334d8f04a53%7C0%7C0%7C639083346424938718%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=IeDDC9esiR0op9RLLhIR5WZmtJJiQyTBWy90ue2PwvQ%3D&amp;reserved=0\"><strong>The Updated Rule&nbsp;of Law Checklist of the Venice Commission<\/strong><\/a><strong>, by Qerim Qerimi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"ember1537\">Over three decades after its creation, the Venice Commission&nbsp;has become a global reference point for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Its 2016 Rule of Law Checklist quickly became a benchmark tool used by courts, EU institutions, and civil society across Europe and beyond. Nearly a decade later, the&nbsp;Venice Commission undertook the task of updating its Checklist.&nbsp;In this piece,&nbsp;Qerim&nbsp;Qerimi, member of the Venice Commission and chair of&nbsp;its Scientific Council, examines the recent changes, commenting that&nbsp;whilst &#8220;it does not seek to redefine the rule of law [the Updated Checklist] refines and operationalises it for contemporary conditions.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"ember1538\"><a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.exeter.ac.uk%2Fhumanrightsanddemocracyforumblog%2F2026%2F02%2F13%2Fpolitics-of-harm-from-kashmir-to-minneapolis-part-i-by-zainab-zafar%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CS.Miller%40exeter.ac.uk%7Cca9592d8856e4d3b4ade08de7aeae306%7C912a5d77fb984eeeaf321334d8f04a53%7C0%7C0%7C639083346424964653%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Id%2B4jCzg9oidffp%2FCxzHCDe73AjWTB6r43Ontm6TG2M%3D&amp;reserved=0\"><strong>Politics of Harm: From Kashmir to Minneapolis (Part I)<\/strong><\/a><strong>, by Zainab Zafar<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"ember1539\">Through the lens of immigration policies in Kashmir and Minneapolis, Zainab Zafar,&nbsp;a freelance journalist from Pakistan,&nbsp;sheds light on how dignity becomes unevenly distributed in the context of&nbsp;the use of force and violence by States. The post discusses how militarised policing and emergency laws entrench systemic discrimination, and how human&nbsp;dignity becomes conditional on citizenship, and revealing deep democratic crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"ember1540\"><a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.exeter.ac.uk%2Fhumanrightsanddemocracyforumblog%2F2026%2F02%2F23%2Fthe-dignity-gap-in-post-colonial-nigeria-part-i-the-origins-of-human-dignity-in-nigeria-by-ayobami-ruth-olufemi-white%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CS.Miller%40exeter.ac.uk%7Cca9592d8856e4d3b4ade08de7aeae306%7C912a5d77fb984eeeaf321334d8f04a53%7C0%7C0%7C639083346424985111%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Il1CXzT29PqhfbUXHYsdN4F8yOZH7rd5Nh4fxM60%2BX8%3D&amp;reserved=0\"><strong>The Dignity Gap in Post-Colonial Nigeria<\/strong><\/a><strong>, by Ayobami Ruth Olufemi-White<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"ember1541\">In this two-part piece, Ayobami Olufemi-White,&nbsp;a lawyer, writer, political commentator and human rights advocate&nbsp;in Nigeria,&nbsp;takes us back to the origins of human dignity in post-colonial Nigeria. She argues that despite strong constitutional&nbsp;protection, &#8220;Nigeria\u2019s post-colonial journey illustrates the tension between aspiration and reality, between the moral and legal commitment to human dignity and the lived experience of its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"ember1542\"><em>If you are interested in contributing a blogpost, wherever in the world you are based and no matter your discipline or type of engagement with human dignity, rights and democracy, please do get in touch: <\/em><a href=\"mailto:dignitydemocracyblog-mailbox@exeter.ac.uk\"><em>dignitydemocracyblog-mailbox@exeter.ac.uk<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read some of the latest posts and discover how you could also contribute<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":6397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dignity &amp; 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