Human Rights

CoE Body Calls for Information "Firewall" for Migrant Rights

May 11, 2016

The Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance has called for countries to establish a "firewall" to prevent the reporting of information on migrants from social services agencies, including medical care and education providers as well as social security and labor protection agencies, to immigration authorities.
FRA Seeks Role in Rights Processes at National Level

May 11, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights has announced consultations with equality bodies, national human rights institutions, and ombudspersons across Europe on their communication with national parliaments in order to evaluate whether the Agency could contribute to and influence any of these processes.
FRA Seeks EU Monitoring Mechanism on Fundamental Values

May 04, 2016

At a meeting in Brussels with representatives from EU institutions, the Court of Justice of the EU, and the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") advised participants on developing a mechanism to monitor compliance by the EU and its members with the rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights.
FRA Workshop Seeks Monitoring of Data on "Social Inclusion"

April 28, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") has hosted a workshop for EU officials and authorities from EU member states to determine best practices in developing data to define and monitor the "social inclusion" of minority groups.
ECtHR: De Facto Life Sentence Violated Prisoner's Rights

April 28, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") has held that the Netherlands violated a convicted killer's right against "inhuman or degrading treatment" because, even though he secured reviews of his continued confinement during his life sentence, he was denied treatment of his mental health problems, thus making release effectively impossible.
Cohen: Court's Breivik Decision Dilutes Human Rights

April 26, 2016

Nick Cohen writes in The Guardian that a court's holding that Norwegian authorities had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by denying mass killer Anders Breivik sufficient access to other people during his confinement must serve as a reminder that judges' definition of the extent of "human rights" should pay proper respect to democratic decision-making.
Norwegian Court Finds ECHR Violation in Mass Killer's Confinement

April 25, 2016

A Norwegian district court has held that national authorities violated the European Convention on Human Rights' ("ECHR") prohibition against "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" for the conditions of mass killer Anders Breivik's solitary confinement in prison and, as a result, has ordered the state to pay Breivik's legal fees.
Russian Court's Rejection of ECtHR Ruling Seeks "Compromise"

April 20, 2016

The Russian Constitutional Court has held that, although it would be impossible to fully enforce a European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") decision finding that a blanket ban in Russia on prisoner voting violates human rights, the Court would be open to a "compromise" with the ECtHR on granting votes to prisoners who have committed minor crimes.
EU Data Official Lauds "Digital Rights" Resolution

April 20, 2016

European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli has praised the European Parliament for its adoption of the "landmark" General Data Protection Regulation, which provides centralized rules for the rights of citizens in the EU to data privacy and the obligations of the private sector to respect "digital rights."
CoE Committee on Torture Seeks Limits to Life Sentences

April 20, 2016

The Council of Europe's ("CoE") Committee for the Prevention of Torture has characterized criminal sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of release as "inhuman" and has called for laws that require governments to review on a "case-by-case basis" whether these prisoners can return to society.