Human Rights

CoE Body Issues Standards on Migrant Detention

March 28, 2017

The Council of Europe's (CoE) Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has issued a "factsheet" of Europe-wide standards on acceptable practices in detaining "irregular migrants," stating that the automatic detention of migrants who have broken a country's immigration law violates European human rights provisions.
ECtHR: Enhanced Prison Measures Violated Man's Rights

March 28, 2017

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that Poland violated the rights of a prisoner whom authorities placed in a "dangerous detainee" regime due to his violent behavior toward guards because the regime's strip search and shackling requirements constituted "inhuman or degrading treatment."
ECJ Refines "Right to Be Forgotten" in Business Context

March 24, 2017

The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has held that its "right to be forgotten" does not extend to a corporate director who wished to order the removal of information from public records that he was the administrator for a different company that went bankrupt, calling for a "case-by-case" judicial consideration of whether the right applies in specific circumstances.
CoE Committee Criticizes UK’s Treatment of Minorities

March 24, 2017

The Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe’s (CoE) Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, a legally binding international treaty, has released a report criticizing the UK government for failing to fully address discrimination and "hate speech" against national minorities.
ECtHR: Hungary Violated Rights of Asylum Seekers

March 23, 2017

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that Hungarian authorities violated the rights of two Bangladeshi asylum seekers to liberty and security and against inhuman or degrading treatment by detaining them for approximately three weeks and removing them to Serbia without, according to the ECtHR, a proper individual review of their cases.
UK Opposes Lawsuits Using Rights Law on Police Inaction

March 23, 2017

The Telegraph reports that the UK's Home Office has submitted arguments in an ongoing Supreme Court case asserting that the country's Human Rights Act, which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights in domestic law, does not give plaintiffs the right to seek damages from law enforcement authorities for allegedly botched investigations.
ECtHR Prolongs Suspension of Georgia TV Judgment

March 21, 2017

The RFE/RL news service reports that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has prolonged indefinitely its suspension of a judgment by the Georgian Supreme Court permitting the country's government to place an independent news station under the control of an ally of the governing party.
ECtHR: Russia Sent Prisoners Too Far from Families

March 20, 2017

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that Russia violated the rights of prisoners to respect for family life by incarcerating them in penal facilities ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 kilometers from the residences of their close relations and by refusing their requests to be transferred to closer locations.
Czech Proposal Offers Defense from EU Gun Policy

March 17, 2017

EurActiv reports that the Czech Government is debating a proposed amendment to the country’s constitution that would protect the right to own firearms for security purposes, in response to an EU Firearms Directive that aims to restrict gun ownership and coordinate gun policy across the bloc.
ECtHR Suspends Georgian Court's Media Decision

March 15, 2017

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has demanded the suspension of a judgment of the Georgian Supreme Court permitting a change in ownership of a television station until the ECtHR has an opportunity to hear a case on whether the change would violate European human rights provisions on freedom of expression.