Human Rights

ECtHR: Italy's Participation in Rendition Violated Suspect's Rights

February 24, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") has held that Italy's involvement in the abduction and rendition to Egypt of a terror suspect by US officials, and its subsequent lack of action to bring to justice the officials carrying out the operation, violated several of the suspect's rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
CoE Calls for Delay, Consultation on Laws in Poland

February 22, 2016

Following his recent visit to Poland, the Council of Europe ("CoE") Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, called on Polish authorities to delay the passage and implementation of laws affecting the country's Constitutional Court and public media management in order to allow consultation, both by the public and international institutions, on proposed reforms.
ECtHR Permits Defamation Penalty for Comments Against Business

February 19, 2016

In a recent case, the European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") held that the Vienna Commercial Court's imposition of a penalty on the president of the Vienna Chamber of Medical Doctors for referring to a business as a "locust fund" in a website post was permissible under the European Convention on Human Rights.
UK Police: ECHR Bars Release of Fugitive Details

February 17, 2016

The Daily Mail reports that UK police forces have used the UK Data Protection Act and privacy provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR") to justify their refusal to publicly release details on criminal suspects classified as "wanted."
OSCE, CoE Promote Human-Rights-First Security Message

February 11, 2016

At a meeting in Strasbourg, the Special Representative for the German Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ("OSCE") Gernot Erler and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe ("CoE") Thorbjørn Jagland pledged cooperation between the organizations on security policies that prioritized "human rights and fundamental freedoms."
Malcolm: "Human Rights" Regime Narrows Democratic Choice

February 10, 2016

Sir Noel Malcolm writes that judges must take into account the harm to democracy that occurs when they use international human rights instruments such as the European Convention on Human Rights to take issues that should be decided by the elected representatives of the people out of the hands of those representatives.
CoE Pledges Steps Against Online "Hate Speech"

February 09, 2016

Following talks with German Justice Minister Heiko Maas, Council of Europe ("CoE") Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland praised cooperation between the German Government and internet companies to eliminate online "hate speech" and pledged to ramp up the CoE's work in this area.
CoE Warns Belgium on Inclusion of Disabled Persons

February 08, 2016

Council of Europe ("CoE") Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks has called on Belgium to speed along measures that would provide for the "social inclusion" of persons with disabilities, particularly mental disabilities, in the country, including by reforming the institutionalization process of such persons and integrating prisons and schools.
ECtHR Finds Rights Violation in Disability Payment Discontinuation

February 08, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") has held that the discontinuation of government disability payments for a woman in Switzerland due to the supposition that because she gave birth to twins, she would not have continued to engage in full-time employment, violated the woman's rights against discrimination and to respect for her private and family life.
FRA Discusses "Toolkit" on Unbiased Media Reporting

February 08, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") recently held a meeting at which participants discussed the development of a toolkit for media professionals on how to promote fundamental rights in their reporting, in part by avoiding "biased language" that could "reinforce stereotypes."