Human Rights

ECHR Maintains U.K. Prisoner Voting Ban Violates Convention

February 11, 2015

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") has issued a ruling reiterating its finding that the U.K.'s blanket ban on prisoner voting is a human rights violation but declining to order the payment of monetary damages to the complainants.
CoE Seeks Enforcement of "Social Rights"

February 11, 2015

The Council of Europe ("CoE") has announced that it is following up on the launch by CoE Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland of the "Turin Process," to "fill the gap" between civil and political rights and social and economic rights, with a formal conference on the protection of European social rights in February.
ECHR: Life Sentence Complies with Convention

February 04, 2015

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") has ruled that the U.K.'s imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment on a triple murderer and rapist did not violate the prisoner's human rights, as the Justice Secretary retains the right to release the prisoner under exceptional circumstances.
PACE Report Details Concerns over Mass Surveillance

January 28, 2015

A new report from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ("PACE") warns that mass surveillance by national governments may violate the rights to privacy, free expression, and a fair trial under the European Convention on Human Rights.
CoE Committee Describes "Social Rights" Violations

January 28, 2015

The Council of Europe's ("CoE") Social Rights Committee has released conclusions purporting to detail 252 violations of the European Social Charter, which seeks to advance standards in realms such as collective bargaining and work conditions, in 41 CoE member states.
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."