Human Rights

EU Committee Seeks Stronger Social Protection

October 19, 2016

The European Committee on the Regions has adopted an opinion calling on EU institutions to support member states in bolstering their social protection systems and to do more to harmonize "social rights" across the bloc.
CoE Identifies Broad Scope of "Diversity," Minority Rights

October 19, 2016

A report by the Council of Europe identifies the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities as a "living instrument" that, while not identifying what constitutes a "national minority," protects the individual, social, and collective rights of such minorities from interference by states parties.
UK Pledges to Shield Soldiers from ECHR Claims

October 13, 2016

The UK Government has announced that, in future conflicts involving the British military, the country will derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights in order to discourage "vexatious" human rights litigation against soldiers engaged in military operations.
ECtHR: Hungarian Life-Sentence Review Plan Violates Rights

October 13, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has held that Hungarian legislation mandating automatic review of life sentences for criminals after 40 years, adopted in response to a previous ECtHR decision finding life sentences without the possibility of review a violation of human rights, still constitutes "inhuman or degrading treatment" under European human rights law.
FRA Seeks EU-wide Fundamental Rights Review

October 05, 2016

In remarks indicating that 2015 was "not a good year" for fundamental rights, EU Agency for Fundamental Rights Director Michael O'Flaherty called on all EU members to engage in a comprehensive review of their laws to ensure that they do not conflict with international fundamental rights standards.
FRA Calls for EU "Citizenship Education"

September 21, 2016

In remarks emerging from the agency's Fundamental Rights Forum held earlier this year, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights called for "citizenship education" and schooling on the global human rights agenda in order to promote "inter-cultural dialogue and mutual understanding" among citizens of EU countries.
British MP: ECHR Must Not Apply to the Battlefield

September 21, 2016

UK Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat writes that the increasing number of lawsuits brought under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights against British soldiers for their conduct in combat operations signals the invalid creep of ECHR principles from civilian scenarios to complex battlefield situations.
ECtHR: Russia Violated Travel Rights of Convicted Criminals

September 20, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has concluded that Russia violated the travel rights of two convicted criminals serving periods of probation for smuggling and extortion by denying their requests for passports during these periods without considering the circumstances of their individual cases.
ECtHR: Greece Violated Rights of Conscientious Objector

September 19, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has held that the Greek government failed to respect a man's right to religious freedom because it permitted his claim to conscientious objection from military service to be heard by a panel made up primarily of members of the military.
ECJ Official: EU-Canada Passenger Records Violate Rights

September 16, 2016

Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi of the Court of Justice of the EU has advised that the agreement between the EU and Canada to maintain a database of passenger name record data to combat terrorism and transnational crime violates the fundamental rights of citizens in EU countries due to the lack of certain privacy safeguards.