Human Rights

EU Agency Proposes Broad Ban on Microplastics

February 05, 2019

The Guardian reports that the European Chemicals Agency has proposed EU legislation banning microplastics that manufacturers intentionally add to products - representing about 90 percent of such microplastic pollutants.
ECtHR Orders Russia to Pay Damages to Expelled Georgians

February 05, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ordered Russia to pay a total of approximately $11.5 million to over 1,500 Georgian citizens the ECtHR concluded the Russian government arbitrarily expelled in 2006.
EU Institutions Reach Deal on “Work-Life Balance” Proposal

January 31, 2019

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have reached a deal on advancing a proposal for an EU directive on “work-life balance for parents and carers” setting new minimum Europe-wide standards on the amount of time off companies must grant new parents.
ECtHR: UK Storage of Man’s Data Violated Privacy Rights

January 31, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the UK police’s indefinite retention in a “domestic extremism” database of information about a man who was once associated with a violent group violated the man’s right to privacy, in part due to lack of safeguards in line with Council of Europe recommendations.
Letter Signals Future UK Review of ECHR Obligations

January 21, 2019

The Independent reports that a letter from an official at the UK Ministry of Justice indicates the government will review potential changes to the UK Human Rights Act, which implements the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in Britain, upon the completion of the Brexit process.
ECtHR: Macedonian Framework for Recording Sex Change Violates Rights

January 17, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the Republic of Macedonia violated the right to respect for transgender person’s private and family life by failing to provide a legal framework for recognition of the person’s sex change in the country’s birth register.
NGO: Post-Brexit Deregulation Threatens Social Rights

January 16, 2019

Benjamin Ward of Human Rights Watch warns that a “no deal” Brexit scenario, which is potentially more likely in the wake of yesterday’s parliamentary defeat of the UK government’s withdrawal deal, could threaten social rights guaranteed by EU law as Britain seeks to reduce regulation and become more competitive after leaving the bloc.
ECJ Adviser Seeks Geographic Limit for “Right to Be Forgotten”

January 16, 2019

CNBC reports that Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) Advocate General Maciej Szpunar advised the ECJ to rule that, under the EU’s “right to be forgotten” framework, search engines like Google are only required to remove access to content from users located in the EU - though in some future cases deletion of content from Google’s global platform could be warranted.
ECJ Official: Search Engines Must Balance Rights When Deleting Links

January 16, 2019

Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) Advocate General Maciej Szpunar has advised the ECJ to rule that EU data-processing rules apply to search engines, such as Google, and that these platforms must perform a balancing test between the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression when determining whether to take down content.
EU Advances Ban on Broad Range of Plastic Items

January 11, 2019

Politico reports that negotiators from the European Parliament and European Council have reached an agreement to advance a “single-use plastics directive,” which will ban, beginning in 2021, broad categories of plastic items, including straws, plates, cutlery, and drinking cups made from a certain type of plastic, from circulation in the EU.