Human Rights

ECtHR: Hungarian Pension Reform Violated Rights

December 20, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has held that Hungarian legislation amending the eligibility of those receiving disability-related social-security benefits had caused a woman who had lost her pension under the law "to bear an excessive individual burden" and thereby had violated her right to protection of property.
CoE Official Seeks NHRI Review of Terror Laws

December 13, 2016

Criticizing attempts by governments to fight terrorism at the expense of international human rights standards, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks calls on countries to bolster the work of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in reviewing counter-terrorism legislation and investigating complaints regarding law enforcement activity.
EU Releases Guidance on Returning Migrants

December 12, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights has released "practical guidance" on how EU member states must train officials operating beyond the EU's external borders to take into account international human rights law in determining whether to permit migrants to enter their territory or to turn them back to their home countries.
EU Agency Trains Greece on Migration Rights

December 12, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has signed a cooperation agreement with the Greek Ministry of Migration Policy under which the FRA will share "best practices" with Greece on fundamental rights relating to migration and, with the UN Refugee Agency, will train Greek migration staff on their fundamental rights obligations toward migrants.
CoE Official: Increase Migrants' Access to "Social Rights"

November 30, 2016

In a recent comment, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks calls on European governments to avoid "undermining" international human rights law by adopting restrictive immigration policies and to offer "irregular migrants" access to various economic and social rights.
ECtHR: Dismissal of Judge Violated Right to "Private Life"

November 30, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has held that Hungary's dismissal of the Vice-President of its Constitutional Court, as part of the country's constitutional reforms of 2012, violated his right under European human rights law to respect for his private life.
FRA Pushes "Rights" Agenda in EU Security Efforts

November 22, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) recently hosted a meeting of EU leaders to discuss how to integrate the global human rights agenda in the supranational organization's efforts to build a centralized "security union."
CoE Body Criticizes Hungary's Migrant Detention Practices

November 09, 2016

The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has issued a report listing its concerns regarding the conditions of detention of migrants in Hungary and questioning whether the country's border policies accorded with its international human rights obligations.
ECtHR: Hungary Violated NGO's Right to Information

November 09, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has held that the refusal by Hungarian law enforcement authorities to disclose to a nongovernmental organization data on their selection of public defenders for the purpose of a study on the quality of the defenders' work violated the NGO's right to freedom of expression.
ECtHR: Sanctions Violated Hungarian MP's Speech Rights

November 08, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has held that the Hungarian Parliament violated the right of a Member from an opposition political party to freedom of expression by fining him for making an insulting gesture during a session and for later refusing to permit him to make a speech accusing the majority party of criminal conduct without recourse to a remedy.