Human Rights

EU Committee Approves Strengthened Asylum Entity

December 30, 2016

The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee has approved a proposal to further centralize EU refugee rules by creating an EU Agency for Asylum that will monitor the refugee policies and practices of national governments and implement a complaint mechanism headed by a Fundamental Rights Officer.
EU Agency Seeks Rights-Based Revision of Migration Rules

December 21, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights has issued two opinions requested by the European Parliament on including a human rights-based approach to the process of revising EU regulations on where migrants from non-EU countries should be settled.
ECtHR: Belgian Deportation Decision Was "Inhuman" Treatment

December 20, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has concluded that Belgian authorities violated the rights of a man, who was convicted of robbery and of participating in a criminal organization, against inhuman or degrading treatment and to respect for private and family life by deciding to deport him to Georgia without considering the effects of the move on his health and family.
ECtHR: Hungarian Pension Reform Violated Rights

December 20, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has held that Hungarian legislation amending the eligibility of those receiving disability-related social-security benefits had caused a woman who had lost her pension under the law "to bear an excessive individual burden" and thereby had violated her right to protection of property.
CoE Official Seeks NHRI Review of Terror Laws

December 13, 2016

Criticizing attempts by governments to fight terrorism at the expense of international human rights standards, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks calls on countries to bolster the work of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in reviewing counter-terrorism legislation and investigating complaints regarding law enforcement activity.
EU Releases Guidance on Returning Migrants

December 12, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights has released "practical guidance" on how EU member states must train officials operating beyond the EU's external borders to take into account international human rights law in determining whether to permit migrants to enter their territory or to turn them back to their home countries.
EU Agency Trains Greece on Migration Rights

December 12, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has signed a cooperation agreement with the Greek Ministry of Migration Policy under which the FRA will share "best practices" with Greece on fundamental rights relating to migration and, with the UN Refugee Agency, will train Greek migration staff on their fundamental rights obligations toward migrants.
CoE Official: Increase Migrants' Access to "Social Rights"

November 30, 2016

In a recent comment, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks calls on European governments to avoid "undermining" international human rights law by adopting restrictive immigration policies and to offer "irregular migrants" access to various economic and social rights.
ECtHR: Dismissal of Judge Violated Right to "Private Life"

November 30, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has held that Hungary's dismissal of the Vice-President of its Constitutional Court, as part of the country's constitutional reforms of 2012, violated his right under European human rights law to respect for his private life.
FRA Pushes "Rights" Agenda in EU Security Efforts

November 22, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) recently hosted a meeting of EU leaders to discuss how to integrate the global human rights agenda in the supranational organization's efforts to build a centralized "security union."