Human Rights

ECJ Rejects Psychological Tests of Refugees' Sexual Orientation

January 29, 2018

Reuters reports that the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has held that EU member states are barred from performing psychological tests to determine whether asylum seekers are telling the truth about their sexual orientation.
ECtHR Finds Right to Post Images of Spoiled Ballots

January 29, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the Hungarian government violated the right to freedom of expression of a political party by fining it for making available a mobile phone application permitting voters to anonymously upload to a public website images of their invalid ballots cast in a recent national referendum.
EU Leaders Eye Budget as "Weapon" in Rule-of-Law Disputes

January 24, 2018

The Economist reports that a proposal to "weaponise" the EU budget by withholding development funds from member states accused of failing to uphold principles of the rule of law and fundamental rights is gaining traction among Western European leaders as they prepare for formal negotiations of the bloc's "multiannual financial framework."
NGOs Seek EU Penalties for Civil Society Restrictions

January 24, 2018

Open Society Foundations has published an article calling for action at the EU level to protect nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) across the bloc from financial and other pressures, including by developing a new legal framework for monitoring national legislation on NGOs and penalizing countries for passing laws that are restrictive of civil society.
FRA Warns of Widespread "Pressures" on NGOs

January 24, 2018

A recent report from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) warns of a variety of increased pressures facing activist nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) throughout the EU, extending to the difficulty of such NGOs in obtaining funding through national budgets and their lack of consultation with public officials prior to the passage of laws.
ECtHR Rejects Complaint on Exemption from Sex Education

January 19, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has rejected a claim from the parents of a seven-year-old student in Switzerland seeking a ruling that the country had violated their rights by refusing to permit them to exempt their child from sex-education lessons at her primary school.
ECtHR: Failure to Limit Street Noise Violated Rights

January 17, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the authorities in the City of Valencia, Spain, violated the right of a man to respect for his home and private life by failing to reduce noise levels from establishments in the man's neighborhood at night.
UK Groups Criticize Plans to Drop EU Charter

January 17, 2018

The UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission and a group of nongovernmental organizations have published a letter warning that, under current British government plans following Brexit, UK citizens will no longer be able to challenge British laws they say fail to adhere to EU-based human rights provisions.
ECtHR: Surveillance Violated Supermarket Employees' Rights

January 10, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the secret filming of supermarket employees after the store manager had noticed differences between stock levels and the amount sold was a violation of the employees' right to privacy, disagreeing with the decision of Spanish courts on the proportionality of the move to implement private surveillance.
ECtHR Sides with NGO on Basis of "Racism" Accusation

January 10, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the Swiss government violated the right to free expression by penalizing a nongovernmental organization for classifying as "verbal racism" a politician's support of a Swiss minaret ban after reviewing statements from various international bodies classifying the minaret ban as "discriminatory, xenophobic or racist."