Human Rights

EU Council Agrees to Ban Some Plastics

June 03, 2019

The Council of the EU recently agreed to new rules banning, within two years, certain “single-use” plastic products for which alternatives are available and discouraging the use of other plastics through “national reduction” measures and labeling requirements.
Investor Group Launches Initiative on Easing Green Finance

May 31, 2019

A group of European financial institutions is leading a new initiative of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change aiming to lay the groundwork for investors to align their portfolios with the goals of the UN’s Paris climate deal by divesting from fossil fuel projects.
EC Requests Study on Corporate Due Diligence Proposals

May 30, 2019

The European Commission (EC) recently requested a study from the British Institute of International and Comparative Law paving the way toward an EU-wide proposal on requiring businesses to perform due diligence on human rights and “sustainability” impacts in their supply chains.
CoE Refugee Action Plan Seeks Support for Non-Minors

May 30, 2019

As part of its Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe, the Council of Europe (CoE) Committee of Ministers called on CoE member states to continue providing “temporary support” to refugees who are over 18 years old.
CoE Official Opposes Hungarian Migrant, Family Policies

May 22, 2019

The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović has published a report accusing the Hungarian government of violating human rights standards through its treatment of migrants, politicians’ promotion of “xenophobic attitudes,” and reinforcement of gender stereotypes by encouraging large families.
CoE Agent: States Must Separate Migration Control, Integration Policies

May 01, 2019

According to a paper by the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) on migration and refugees Tomáš Boček, European human rights standards demand that governments refrain from pursuing goals on controlling migration numbers in their migrant integration policies.
ECtHR: Russia Must Reform Method of Transporting Prisoners

April 29, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found a “recurrent structural problem” in the manner in which the Russian government transports prisoners, giving the country 18 months to establish effective remedies that grant prisoners more space when traveling and limit the allocation of prisoners to remote detention facilities.
ECtHR Finds Defect in Swiss Deportation Procedure

April 29, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently held that a Swiss court had violated the rights of a Kosovar national by issuing an expulsion order over his rape conviction without adequately considering his declining health and his “social, cultural and family bonds” in Switzerland.
CoE Committee Publishes Guidelines on Health Data Protection

April 26, 2019

The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Committee of Ministers recently adopted a set of guidelines on how governments and health care providers must protect citizens’ health-related data in a manner compliant with transnational human rights law.
CoE Body Calls for State Action Against Sexism

April 26, 2019

The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Committee of Ministers has adopted a recommendation containing what it deems to be the first international agreed definition of sexism and calling on CoE member states to pursue measures to “fight against sexism in all walks of life,” including by criminalizing “sexist hate speech.”