Human Rights

ECtHR Upholds French Hate Speech Fine

November 18, 2015

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") has rejected a complaint from French comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala that a fine imposed by a French court for anti-Semitic hate speech violated his right to freedom of expression.
EU, Other Institutions Launch "Social Rights" Platform

November 05, 2015

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Council of Europe, the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions, and the European Network of Equality Bodies have launched a Collaborative Platform on Social and Economic Rights in order to further such nontraditional "human rights" throughout Europe.
FRA Calls for Rights-Compliant EU Fingerprinting

October 30, 2015

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") has published a checklist for officials in the EU to use when taking the fingerprints of asylum seekers, as mandated by EU rules, in order to respect fundamental rights, including by avoiding "physical or psychological force" in taking the fingerprints.
ECtHR Finds Secret Hearings for Terror Suspects Valid

October 28, 2015

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") has found that a set of closed court sessions in the UK for three Pakistani students, who had been detained in an anti-terror inquiry for two weeks as courts considered the validity of arrest warrants on national security grounds, did not violate the suspects' human rights.
EU Tribunal Finds Against FRA in Termination Decision

October 21, 2015

POLITICO reports that the EU Civil Service Tribunal has found that the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") was wrong to fire a staff member who had complained of ethnic discrimination in the latest case involving allegations of harassment by FRA management.
CoE Official: SDGs Lay out Human Rights Agenda for Europe

October 16, 2015

The Council of Europe ("CoE") Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks has called on European governments to apply the UN Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") to advance the international economic and social rights agenda within Europe.
FRA Pushes Alternatives to Asylum-Seeker Detention

October 15, 2015

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") has published guidance to EU member countries on alternatives to detaining asylum seekers and people who have sought and failed to obtain asylum within their territory.
CoE Assembly Calls for Reduction of Income Inequality

October 08, 2015

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ("CoE"), whose mission is to uphold "human rights, democracy and the rule of law" in Europe, has called for countries to do more, including through easing collective bargaining and raising the minimum wage, to decrease income inequality among their citizens.
EU Prisoner Vote Ruling May Influence "Brexit" Debate

October 07, 2015

The Telegraph reports that a recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU that countries can ban prisoners convicted of "serious crimes" from voting in EU elections gives British prisoners convicted of minor crimes a basis on which to challenge the UK's blanket ban on prisoner voting and thus may strengthen the campaign within the country for EU exit.
ECtHR Launches Information Exchange with National Courts

October 07, 2015

As the European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") seeks ways to institutionalize its case law in national courts, ECtHR President Dean Spielmann has announced the launch of a system that will facilitate the exchange of such information between the ECtHR and national superior courts.