Human Rights

EU Launches Draft "Pillar of Social Rights"

March 09, 2016

The European Commission has published and asked for public consultation on a draft outline of a European Pillar of Social Rights that seeks to bolster welfare and labor rights in the EU.
CoE Report Sets out Rights in "Culturally Diverse Societies"

March 09, 2016

A report from the Council of Europe ("CoE") Committee of Ministers describes how CoE member countries must protect human rights in "culturally diverse societies," including by avoiding "multiple discrimination" against groups and furthering "reasonable accommodation" to ensure the fulfillment of human rights.
FRA Provides Rights Training for "Forced Return" Monitors

March 09, 2016

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") recently gathered 20 monitors from national bodies charged with observing the "forced return" of migrants located in EU countries to countries outside the EU in order to train them in potential fundamental rights violations.
CoE Chief: Anti-Migrant Strategies Violate Rights

March 02, 2016

In a speech at the UN Human Rights Council, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe ("CoE") Thorbjørn Jagland argued that national measures seeking to prevent immigration at the borders of European countries violate global and European human rights obligations and called Hungary's referendum on the EU's allocation of refugees "polarizing and irresponsible."
FRA Calls for "Proactive" Promotion of EU Rights Charter

February 24, 2016

At a seminar organized by the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ("FRA") Michael O'Flaherty asserted that EU member states are legally obligated to promote on a "proactive" basis the rights of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and should use the Charter as an "ethical compass" as they deal with the migrant crisis.
ECtHR Penalizes Russia for Violations in MRT Region

February 24, 2016

Given its finding of reliance by the "Moldavian Republic of Transdniestria" ("MRT"), a "breakaway" region in Moldova, on Russian military and other support, the European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") concluded that Russia was responsible for the payment of damages to a former prisoner who complained of human rights violations by the MRT.
ECtHR Finds Immigration Law Violates Rights of Same-sex Couples

February 24, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") has concluded that a Croatian immigration law that excludes same-sex couples from using a family reunification provision to gain entry for a member of the couple into the country discriminated against such a couple in the exercise of its members' right to respect for private and family life.
ECtHR: Italy's Participation in Rendition Violated Suspect's Rights

February 24, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") has held that Italy's involvement in the abduction and rendition to Egypt of a terror suspect by US officials, and its subsequent lack of action to bring to justice the officials carrying out the operation, violated several of the suspect's rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
CoE Calls for Delay, Consultation on Laws in Poland

February 22, 2016

Following his recent visit to Poland, the Council of Europe ("CoE") Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, called on Polish authorities to delay the passage and implementation of laws affecting the country's Constitutional Court and public media management in order to allow consultation, both by the public and international institutions, on proposed reforms.
ECtHR Permits Defamation Penalty for Comments Against Business

February 19, 2016

In a recent case, the European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") held that the Vienna Commercial Court's imposition of a penalty on the president of the Vienna Chamber of Medical Doctors for referring to a business as a "locust fund" in a website post was permissible under the European Convention on Human Rights.