Human Rights

EU Plans to Take on Human Rights Abusers

September 21, 2020

Amid a global assault on human rights stretching from Belarus to Hong Kong to Yemen, Europe's chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in her first-ever State of the Union speech that she will bring forth a European Magnitsky Act, a sanctions framework modeled after a U.S. law that restricts malign actors' access to travel and the global financial system.
ECtHR President Urges Turkey to Respect Rule of Law

September 10, 2020

During a visit to Turkey, which has engaged in the controversial suppression and imprisonment of some judges, academics, and opposition party members, European Court of Human Rights President Robert Spano stressed the importance of respecting the rule of law and judicial independence.
Victory for Google in German Court Over Right to Be Forgotten

July 29, 2020

In the first ruling since the EU's general data protection regulation came into effect in 2018, giving EU citizens the right to demand deletion of personal data, Germany's highest court agreed with lower courts that placed greater weight on the public's right to know than on the right of the two plaintiffs to wipe entries from search results over privacy concerns.
Poland to Withdraw from the Istanbul Convention Due to Controversial Ideologies About Gender.

July 27, 2020

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has announced that Poland will begin withdrawing from the European Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the "Istanbul Convention"), on the grounds that it contains "elements of an ideological nature," which the Government "considers harmful."
TechCrunch: Europe’s Top Court Strikes Down Flagship EU-US Data Transfer Mechanism

July 17, 2020

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) has struck down a flagship EU-US data flows arrangement called Privacy Shield citing that “the requirements of US national security, public interest and law enforcement have primacy, thus condoning interference with the fundamental rights of persons whose data are transferred to that third country”.
ECtHR: Attending a Demonstration is Not Proof of Membership in Terrorist Organization

July 14, 2020

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of a Turkish citizen who was convicted on terrorism-related charges for attending, on four different occasions, demonstrations for the pro-Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a recognized terrorist organization, going against the original ruling citing the individuals right to freedom of expression.
Activists Challenge Moscow's Use of Facial Recognition Surveillance at ECtHR

July 11, 2020

Activist Alyona Popova and politician Vladimir Milov have lodged a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights over Russia's use of facial recognition technology during protests, an action their lawyer explained will be the first case in the ECtHR challenging the use of such technology to conduct mass surveillance.
Politico: EU Privacy Enforcer Faces Scrutiny

May 27, 2020

According to Politico.eu, European Union ("EU") data protection officials are concerned about the slow start and early restructuring of Ireland's Data Protection Commission, which, due to the presence of Silicon Valley companies' international headquarters in Dublin, is at the vanguard of the enforcement of the EU's tough privacy standards.
Switzerland Supreme Court Rejects Climate Change Lawsuit

May 27, 2020

Finding that it is too early to claim fundamental human rights violations based on climate change, the Supreme Court of Switzerland has denied an appeal by the Senior Women for Climate Change Protection alleging that Switzerland's government was failing to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions in a way that would correspond with the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global warming well below 2ºC.
Britain Ready to Reject EU Demands on Human Rights Laws

March 04, 2020

According to a report in the Sunday Telegraph, Britain is preparing to reject EU demands to guarantee that the country will continue to be bound by European human rights laws once the UK becomes fully independent.