Police brutality is a problematic feature of the American society that has caused civil unrest among the vast majority. The excessive use of force from American police forces sparked off a wave of protests during 2020 in which people called for the abolishment of unnecessary and unethical police violence against civilians. The importance of the Black Lives Matter movement has been highlighted by the authoritarian response to the protests and the inhumane treatment of ethnic minorities in the United States. But given the strong protection of the freedom of speech and the freedom of assembly in the U.S. constitution, the problem seems to be intertwined with inappropriate attitudes of officials rather than written shortcomings in the law. In this thesis, I investigate how structural racism has affected the freedom of assembly in the United States, which is done through a critical review of relevant literature and documents concerning contemporary challenges for the Black Lives Matter movement. Various reports have addressed the mishandling of Black Lives Matter protests from American police forces and their arbitrarily use of the law to disperse them, e.g., by classifying predominantly peaceful demonstrations as “unlawful assemblies”. This is the kind of dishonest behaviour that I scrutinize further in this study, which is of great importance since it affects peoples’ human rights and ultimately threatens the collective well-being of the American people.  I also investigate and critically discuss the components of a sustainable understanding of the freedom of assembly, which is done through a theoretical analysis of the views of Ronald Dworkin and Jeremy Waldron. From this analysis, I learn about substantial problems that may arise from different theoretical understandings of this right and about the importance of spreading awareness of different forms of racism. Only by acknowledging the existence of racism in our societies, we can protect vulnerable groups from derogatory behaviours and together achieve social justice.

The Regulation of Gatherings Act 205 of 1993 is a old order piece of legislation, but gives full recognition to the right to freedom of assembly and expression. These rights are entrenched in sections 16 and 17 of the Bill of Rights and enjoy a generous interpretation. Section 5 of the Act creates limitations on these rights, as the responsible officer of a local authority is allowed to prohibit a gathering when he has reasonable grounds to believe that the police will not be able to prevent traffic disruption, injury or substantial damage to property. Given the fact that this limitation serves to protect a compelling state interest, it constitutes a reasonable and justifiable limitation in terms of section section 36 of the Bill of Rights. / Law / LL.M.

The Regulation of Gatherings Act 205 of 1993 is a old order piece of legislation, but gives full recognition to the right to freedom of assembly and expression. These rights are entrenched in sections 16 and 17 of the Bill of Rights and enjoy a generous interpretation. Section 5 of the Act creates limitations on these rights, as the responsible officer of a local authority is allowed to prohibit a gathering when he has reasonable grounds to believe that the police will not be able to prevent traffic disruption, injury or substantial damage to property. Given the fact that this limitation serves to protect a compelling state interest, it constitutes a reasonable and justifiable limitation in terms of section section 36 of the Bill of Rights. / Law / LL.M.