Human Rights

ECtHR Finds Russian Responsibility for Rights Abuse in MRT

July 30, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has concluded that the Russian government is responsible for the violation of property rights of over 1600 people living in the so-called “Moldovan Transdniestrian Republic” (MRT) by permitting the MRT, which could not survive without Russian support, to take over their land and personal property.
ECtHR: Investigation of Russian Journalist’s Murder Violated Rights

July 30, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that Russia’s investigation of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who had been critical of the country’s current administration, had violated her right to life because authorities had failed to properly investigate who had arranged her killing.
UK Brexit Paper Commits to Remaining in ECHR

July 27, 2018

The Independent reports that EU negotiators have pressured the UK government, in its recent Brexit White Paper negotiating document, to commit to remaining a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by arguing that the UK’s withdrawal would threaten future UK-EU security cooperation.
CoE Committee Guides Norway on Minority Languages

July 23, 2018

The Council of Europe’s (CoE) expert committee for the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages has issued recommendations on how Norwegian authorities must do more to promote regional and minority languages “at all appropriate levels” in the country.
CoE Official Warns Europe on Migrant Rights

July 23, 2018

The Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović has issued a statement warning that European countries and EU institutions are failing to prioritize international human rights law in their development of migration and asylum policies.
CoE Official Warns of Migrant, Social Rights Violations in Greece

July 16, 2018

Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović has called on CoE members to address the ongoing arrival of migrants in Greece “in a spirit of collective responsibility and solidarity” and warned of the impact of “austerity” measures on the social and economic rights of the country’s citizens.
ECtHR: Russia Violated Prisoners’ Right to Compensation

July 16, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that Russian courts violated the rights of two complainants to compensation by awarding them a low level of damages to compensate them for extra time they spent in prison.
ECtHR: Russia Failed to Comply with Ruling on Prisoners’ Family Rights

July 16, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the Russian government failed to reform its practice of interfering with the ability of prisoners to maintain contact with their families by sending them to far-away prisons in response to a 2017 ECtHR judgment, and that Russia offered no effective remedy to challenge such policies.
ECtHR: Turkey Complied with Rights Law in Disbanding Kurdish Group

July 16, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently held that Turkish authorities had complied with European human rights law when they dissolved a Kurdish foundation whose covert aim was to establish a “theocratic totalitarian” Kurdish State based on sharia law in Turkey.
EC Challenges Polish Law on Judges’ Retirement

July 13, 2018

The European Commission (EC) has launched legal proceedings challenging a recently passed Polish law lowering the mandatory retirement age of judges on the country’s Supreme Court from 70 to 65, while giving the President the opportunity to extend their terms, on the ground that the law is a threat to judicial independence.