The conference will provide a space to take stock of where the rule of law stands in the EU and wider Europe, to examine the challenges it faces and to explore how its protection, resilience and further development can be shaped. Europe and its democratic and constitutional orders are undergoing profound political, social and geopolitical change. Long-held assumptions about the authority of law, democratic institutions and the relationship between legal frameworks and political power are increasingly contested. Democratic regression, populism, polarisation, disinformation, geopolitical pressures and security challenges have exposed vulnerabilities in the rule of law architecture, while also generating new forms of resistance, adaptation and institutional renewal.
The conference aims to strengthen a robust, impact-oriented, vibrant, critical and interdisciplinary community around the rule of law in Europe and beyond. It seeks to create genuinely controversial, open and substantive debates, bringing together different, and where appropriate opposing, political and intellectual perspectives. Therefore, it aims at bringing together different forms of expertise, critical voices from across the political and intellectual spectrum and people and communities that do not usually meet in conventional rule of law debates.
Parallel sessions will:
We welcome formats such as:
Workshop formats: e.g. Fishbowl, Oxford style debate, World cafés, Hackathon/Ideathon, Design Sprint, Bar Camp, Scenario walks, Open Space/Unconference, Lightning talks / Ignite, Samoan Circle, Red team / blue team (one group stress-tests or attacks a proposal while another defends it), Legislative theatre / Forum theatre, Constellation / systemic mapping, Speed-consulting / "human library", games and quizzes;
Training or skills sessions
Panel discussions with strong audience interaction and only short opening statements (5 minutes max);
Roundtables;
Closed door conversations and discussions;
Networking and community-building activities;
Cultural interventions (e.g. movie /shorts screening, rule of law related art, or music etc);
Diversity and participation
We encourage proposals that bring together different disciplines, professional perspectives, geographical and cultural contexts and forms of expertise and that challenge established assumptions about the rule of law.
Proposal submission
In the form for proposal submissions on the platform you will be asked to provide the following:
session title;
proposer name(s) and affiliation(s);
2–3 keywords on the session;
proposed session format, including audience engagement and visualisation approach;
session objectives;
a short abstract of 2–5 sentences.
It is not necessary to have confirmation from all proposed speakers or facilitators at the time of submission.
Please submit your proposal via the submission platform until 18 October 2026.
Proposals will be assessed by the re:constitution team and members of the re:constitution Alumni network.
Please submit your proposal here
Dates and deadlines
18 October 2026 — Deadline for submission
17 November 2026 — Acceptance notification
11–12 May 2027 — European Rule of Law Conference, Brussels
