In many countries civil society is under pressure. Collective citizens' efforts, especially when they have political salience, seem to be regarded with increasing suspicion and even to be actively countered. Anti-NGO laws, arbitrary inspections, harassment, and criminalisation all strike at the roots of civic space. Is this part of a trend of 'reverse transitions', in which countries slide away from democracy? Or is this maybe an even wider shift, manifestations of which can also be observed in more established democracies? What are the possible causes of this shrinking or closing civic space, how does the closure manifest itself, and what are the linkages to human rights? This article will focus on anti-NGO measures as part of a broader global trend.

The limits of the freedom of expression are a perennial discussion in human rights discourse. This article focuses on identifying yardsticks to establish the boundaries of freedom of expression in cases where violence is a risk. It does so by using insights from the social sciences on the escalation of violent conflict. By emphasizing the interaction between violence and discourse, and its effect on antagonisms between groups, it offers an interdisciplinary perspective on an ongoing legal debate. It introduces the notion of "fear speech" and argues that it may be much more salient in this context than hate speech.

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It is a new truism that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an already dire human rights situation across the globe. The waves of protest that swept across the world in the year before the pandemic seemed to have been brought to a sudden halt due to lockdowns and restrictive laws. But at the same time, people everywhere have availed themselves of the wide protective scope of the freedom of assembly, newly re-emphasized in the Human Rights Committee's General Comment of 2020, to come together, protest, and make their voices heard in numerous creative ways. Amid the restrictions, there has been resilience.

The loss of housing for large groups of people is often one of the destructive consequences of armed conflict. In the post-conflict phase, those who try to reclaim their homes face many legal challenges. An emerging human right to housing restitution can be an important tool in achieving successful housing restitution. The inclusion of such a right in the peace treaty concluded at the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina shows that legal recognition of people's housing claims is a core aspect of post-conflict reconstruction. If implemented in a way which complies with the rule of law, the recognition of a right to housing restitution can be an important contribution to structural peace in fragile States.