Meet Our Members is a series where Liberties introduces you to our network of human rights defenders. We hear the stories of the people behind the organisations and why they do the work they do. Liberties is an umbrella network which coordinates campaigns with its expanding network of national civil liberties civil society organisations in 22 EU Member States.
For Peter, his leaning towards activism and human rights was not sparked by one particular moment. It was more of a persistent feeling he couldn’t shake: “As if I was not in the place where I should be,” he tells me.
Before becoming active in civil society, he pursued an extensive career in academia. Peter studied law in Slovakia at the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, where he focused on civil disobedience in liberal democratic systems as a PhD student. He wrote his dissertation on the ‘Right to Disobey’ and spent time in the United States for research. After teaching in Slovakia for several years, he moved to work at the University of Oslo as a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Private Law.
Life in Norway was good. But during the midst of the Corona pandemic, as political developments in Slovakia began to take a worrying turn, that feeling of misplacement grew stronger. The rise of the far right and the 2023 elections were on the horizon. Peter and his wife did not want to remain observers. “We started thinking of ways to come back to Slovakia and actually do something about it.”
An open coordinator position at a platform for democracy in Bratislava was exactly the kind of opportunity he was looking for. “So, there I was coordinating a platform of 80 organisations with a similar goal,” Peter remembers.
From Academia to Real-Time Impact
Through this work, Peter built valuable connections, among them the legal team of VIA IURIS ("by way of law", in Latin). After a year of close cooperation, he joined the organisation in 2023. “I saw the best opportunity to use what I learned in academia,” he explains.
Established in 1997, VIA IURIS focuses on the rule of law, civil society and environmental law. Today, a team of thirteen colleagues, eight of whom are lawyers, monitors legislation, advocates for democratic standards, and litigates where necessary, with the goal of ensuring equal application of the law.
Coming from academia, where research and publications can take years, Peter was struck by the immediacy of his new role. “We can analyse, publish, comment, advocate, or even litigate in real time. That is so much more fulfilling in a way, because you can apply the results immediately,” he says enthusiastically.
Responding Under Pressure
This political nimbleness proved necessary inApril 2025, when the new government adopted an anti-NGO transparency law. "The law obligated NGOs and civil society organisations with an extensive administrative burden, publishing the identities of their donors, and putting them under the same duties as public authorities have regarding the Freedom of Information Act, with the intention to sow stigma, fear, and distrust among the public."
Peter and his team reacted quickly. They created a program to train organisations on how to deal with the new obligations and avoid fines, and openly published detailed legal arguments for advocates to use against the law. Finally, they drafted an unofficial amicus curiae brief, a document submitted by a non-party offering legal analysis and broader context to assist the court’s decision-making, for the Constitutional Court.
The effort paid off. Before Christmas 2025, the court suspended the law, declaring it unconstitutional in its entirety.
When I ask Peter what exactly he does as a senior lawyer, he smiles. “It’s quite a lot to put in one bag.”
Beyond Litigation
His work goes far beyond court cases. He closely monitors draft laws and policy proposals, assessing whether they could harm civil society. When he identifies a risk, he prepares formal comments or position papers, using legal arguments to push back and alert both policymakers and the public.
And when a controversial measure ultimately passes, as with the anti-NGO law, “that’s when we start building a case”.
Still, the overall environment has made the work more challenging. Civil society has been pushed into a mode of perpetual defensiveness. “Instead of proposing its own policies, it has had to react from day one to a steady stream of government measures targeting NGOs, independent institutions, and the judiciary.”
Holding on to a (certain) Hope
Even when the workload is overwhelming, Peter does not lose hope or motivation. “I have hope that it matters that we do what we think is right,” he stresses. His advice is simple: focus on doing what you believe is right and meaningful each day, rather than tying your hope to outcomes you cannot fully control.
In the quiet darkness of a cinema, he finds a welcome pause from the demands of his work. Films like A Single Man, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and The Green Knight, each exploring identity, courage and moral choice, mirror the deeper questions running through his professional life. For Peter, cinema is less an escape than a space for reflection: a way to step back, reconsider and return with a clearer mind.
More articles in the Meet Our Members series:
From Conviction to Court Cases: When Activism Meets the Law
Movement Lawyering isn’t Always About Winning Cases
A 24/7 activist, whose campaigning instincts come from the arts
