Human Rights

ECtHR Begins Accepting Advisory Opinion Requests

August 06, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has announced that Protocol No. 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights entered into force at the beginning of August, permitting the top courts of the 10 ratifying member states to submit requests to the ECtHR for advisory opinions on the interpretation of the Convention.
ECJ Identifies Barriers to Compliance with Arrest Warrants

August 06, 2018

The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has held that, in order to reject the execution of a European Arrest Warrant issued by another EU member state, the court receiving it must determine both that there is a risk of breach of the right to a fair trial in the issuing state and that this risk specifically applies to the person who is the subject of the warrant.
Lawyers: UK Deportation Decision Violates ECHR

August 06, 2018

The Telegraph reports that a group of UK legal experts have deemed a decision by the UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid to deport two Islamic State suspects to the US without assurances that they will not be subject to the death penalty unlawful and likely to be reversed under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
CoE Official Seeks Alleviation of Inequality as a Rights Issue

August 03, 2018

The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović argues that European countries must implement the “economic, social, and cultural rights agenda,” along with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in establishing policies such as the “universal basic income” concept to reduce poverty and economic inequality.
FRA Cites Migration Restrictions as Rights Concerns

August 03, 2018

In its periodic report on migration-related fundamental rights issues, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) cites as a cause for concern Austria’s policy as current President of the Council of the EU of clamping down on uncontrolled migration and various national policies seeking to prevent illegal border crossings.
UK Commission: Brexit Takes away Women’s Rights

August 01, 2018

The Independent reports that, according to the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission, Britain’s withdrawal from the EU threatens the human rights of women, including through funding for women’s services, because the British government will no longer be bound by enforceable EU equality and fundamental rights standards.
EU Committee Critiques Austria’s Prioritization of Security

July 30, 2018

Representatives of the European Economic and Social Committee recently pushed back on the “Europe that protects” program the Austrian government has offered as it takes control of the rotating EU presidency, calling for the expansion of the program from a focus on migration to focuses on environmental, human rights, and inequality issues.
ECJ: UK Cannot Restrict Residence Rights to Citizens’ Spouses

July 30, 2018

The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has struck down a UK regulation only allowing spouses or civil partners of British nationals to gain residence rights in the country through EU free movement rules, finding that countries must consider residence rights for any non-EU “partners” with whom the citizen has had a “durable relationship” in another EU member state.
ECJ Official: Dutch Nationality Law Violates EU Rules

July 30, 2018

Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi has determined that a Dutch law providing for the automatic loss of citizenship for minors whose mother or father has lost Dutch nationality is incompatible with EU law.
ECtHR: Russia Violated Free Speech Rights of Punk Band

July 30, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the Russian government violated the right of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot to free expression when it jailed them on charges of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for performing an anti-Putin song at a Moscow cathedral in 2012 and banned online access to the video of the event.