Dr Ruvi Ziegler spoke at a panel on Israel and international law alongside Prof Noam Lubell (Essex), chaired by Hannah Weisfeld (Yachad), at the high-level ‘Israel after October 7th’ public conference held in London on 27 October 2024. 650 people attended the conference.
The panel considered questions pertaining to the ICJ and ICC cases concerning Israel / Israeli leaders and their ramifications, including for third states (like the UK).
You can view the programme here.
The Elections Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. Section 14, amending sections 1 and 2 of the Representation of the People Act 1985, removed the 15-year limit that had hitherto applied to electoral registration of British citizens who reside abroad. Following the commencement of the Representation of the People (Overseas Electors) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 on 16 January 2024, overseas voters were able to register to vote in July’s General Election; they did so either at the last address they were registered to vote before leaving or, for newly eligible voters, at the last address they were resident in the UK before emigrating. This post argues that the establishment of overseas constituencies in UK Parliamentary elections is a further desirable electoral reform.
Ruvi Ziegler spoke at several events at the Autumn Liberal Democrats Conference, namely:
* a debate on reforms of the electoral system, highlighting the need to establish overseas constituencies for British citizens living abroad, a campaign that the charity he chairs, New Europeans UK, has been spearheading; the motionwas overwhelmingly carried and so overseas constituencies are now official party policy (speech available here – reforms of the electoral system)
* a debate on the Israel-Gaza conflict, highlighting the significance of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on 19 July 2024 for obligations of third states (like the UK) particularly with respect to the settlement project; the motion was overwhelmingly carried (speech available here – Israel-Gaza conflict)
* a panel on the asylum system under the new government alongside Jon Featonby (Refugee Council) and Emily Graham (Safe Passage), organised by Lib Dem for Seekers of Sanctuary (LD4SOS) of which he is a council member
* in-conversation with Lara Parizotto (Migrant Democracy Project) on political empowerment of migrants through voting rights and beyond, organised by Lib Dem Rights-Liberties-Justice (LD R-L-J)
Ruvi Ziegler, Associate Professor in International Refugee Law at the University of Reading, says this is a “particularly painful reality” for many.
Ziegler, an Advisory Council member of Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary, said, “Millions of EU citizens living in the UK were eligible to vote in the elections, and many, like myself,cast their votes using postal votes, proxy votes, voting in person in embassies/consulates, and/or e-voting.
“In contrast, Italians living abroad would need to travel back to Italy to vote despite being able to vote from abroad for national elections. This has generated justifiable anger.”
He adds, “Worse still, in five EU member states, Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, Denmark, and Bulgaria, national legislation prescribes that most of their citizens residing in a ‘third country’, which the UK now is, are legally disenfranchised.
“These countries tend to follow the pattern they adopt for their national elections. Of the four nations of the UK, this legal reality is particularly challenging for Northern Ireland, given that, pursuant to the Good Friday Agreement anyone born in NI may choose to be Irish, British, or both. Hundreds of thousands of residents of Northern Ireland hold Irish citizenship.
“Prior to the conclusion of the withdrawal agreement, I highlighted the ramifications of this scenario and, in my role as Chair of the charity ‘New Europeans UK’, we recently held at Stormont, the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly which explored the effects of Brexit on voting rights of EU citizens in EU elections.
“The legal reality in which your eligibility to vote as an EU citizen for the European Parliament is contingent on your member state’s preferences erodes the political equality of EU citizens as individual EU citizens, irrespective of their member state.
“This is a particularly painful reality for those EU citizens who have come to the UK before Brexit, when it was still an EU member state – to coin a phrase, they have not left the EU; rather, the EU has left them.”
Ruvi Ziegler wrote to The Times on claiming asylum. You can read the letter below, or follow the link to read the newspaper article.
Ruvi Ziegler spent the weekend at the Lib Dem Spring Conference in York where he participated fully.
Ruvi proposed an amendment to a foreign policy motion, which conference adopted, to make firm commitments to resettlement (including of unaccompanied minors), to the establishment of humanitarian visas with applications from outside the UK, and to ensuring rapid humanitarian responses to displacement from conflicts globally in line with the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ and Ukrainian family visa schemes. The motion (post and pre amendment) is available here. Listen to Ruvi’s conference speech proposing the amendment below.
Ruvi also spoke at a debate on the emergency motion ‘Beyond Rwanda: A Fairer way towards Asylum‘. The motion was adopted unanimously.
Click on the link below to listen to Ruvi addressing conference during the debate.
Finally, Ruvi spoke alongside Emily Graham from ‘Safe Passage’ at a fringe meeting of ‘Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary’ about the need for ‘safe and legal routes’ to asylum in the UK and other responses to recent legislation, particularly the Nationality and Borders Act and the Illegal Migration Act.
In the latest BUL Emerging Law Voices series episode, Ruvi Ziegler speaks to Dr Solon Solomon from Brunel University London on the recent reshuffle in the UK government, the entering of David Cameron in the Foreign Office and what this may mean for the British foreign policy when it comes to human rights law and refugee law in the aftermath also of the UK Supreme Court’s Rwanda ruling.
Listen to the full interview here.
Ruvi Ziegler voices his opinion on the home secretary’s claim that the global framework that exists to protect forced migrants requires reform. Here is the text of his letter to The Times.
Dr Ruvi Ziegler was interviewed on 
to discuss the legal implications of the government housing asylum-seekers on a floating barge.
