Human Rights

EU Officials in "Disarray" After ECHR Accession Ruling

January 21, 2015

Michael Farrell writes that EU officials who had attempted to strike a deal involving EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR") are uncertain of how to proceed following a ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU rejecting the accession deal.
Court Opposes EU-ECHR Accession Plan

December 24, 2014

The Court of Justice of the EU has issued a negative opinion on the plan of the EU to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR") based on conflicts between the structures of the economic and human rights blocs.
ECHR Rules Against France in Prosecution of Somali Pirates

December 10, 2014

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") has ruled that French authorities violated the rights of a group of Somali pirates to liberty and security by holding them for 48 hours following their arrival in France prior to placing these suspects before a judge.
EU Panel Seeks Global Application of "Right to Be Forgotten"

November 26, 2014

An EU panel of national privacy regulators from across the bloc has called for the Court of Justice of the EU's "right to be forgotten" decision, which ordered Google to take down some of its search engine results upon request by European citizens, to be extended to the company's search domains outside Europe.
ECHR Calls for Belgium Review of Prison Conditions

November 26, 2014

In a decision granting an applicant compensation for alleged human rights violations in Belgian prisons, including his sharing cells with smokers, the European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") called on Belgium to adopt "general measures guaranteeing prisoners adequate conditions of detention."
FRA Calls for EU "Child Protection System"

November 26, 2014

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") has called for the EU to protect, among other things, the economic and social rights of European children by putting together "an integrated child protection system" that operates across the bloc.
U.K. Justice Criticizes "Slavish" Adherence to ECHR Rulings

November 19, 2014

In a recent speech, Lord Toulson of the U.K. Supreme Court argued that in the early years of the U.K. Human Rights Act, which requires British courts to "take into account" rulings of the European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR"), judges "went too far" in considering themselves bound by ECHR decisions.
Moore: ECHR Advances Human Rights Religion

November 05, 2014

Charles Moore writes that the European Court of Human Rights' ("ECHR") attempt to impose a secular religion of international human rights law on European countries is a threat to democratic governance.
Howarth: U.K. MPs Face "Unenviable" Choice on Arrest Warrant

November 05, 2014

Christopher Howarth of the think tank Open Europe explains the upcoming vote by British Members of Parliament ("MPs") on whether to opt into the European Arrest Warrant and thus to grant the determination of whether U.K. citizens and others are removed to other countries to the Court of Justice of the EU.
FRA Seeks Recognition of EU Charter as "Living Instrument"

October 29, 2014

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") recently held an event in Rome seeking to increase the impact of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights on European law by interpreting the Charter as a "living instrument."