Human Rights

ECHR Rules Against Italy in "Torture" of Protesters

April 08, 2015

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") has found that the beating of a 62-year-old protester at a G-8 Summit in Genoa by the Italian authorities amounted to torture and has criticized the Italian Government for not holding these authorities accountable.
Report Seeks Non-Application of ECHR on Battlefield

April 01, 2015

Responding to increasing U.K. human rights litigation relating to actions of soldiers on the battlefield, a report from the think tank Policy Exchange argues that Britain should exercise its right to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR") during times of military conflict.
Arnheim: U.K. Courts Not Required to Submit to ECHR

March 25, 2015

The think tank Civitas has published a paper by barrister Dr. Michael Arnheim arguing that U.K. courts have gone beyond British law in adhering to judgments of the European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") and calling for legislation making clear that British judges are only subject to Parliamentary sovereignty.
ECJ Considers Adequacy of EU-U.S. Data Protection

March 18, 2015

The Register reports that the EU Court of Justice will soon consider whether Facebook violated the rights of its European users by transferring their data to the U.S. Government, and whether the EU-U.S. "safe harbour framework" has adequately protected such data.
NGO Criticizes EU Abortion Rights Report

March 18, 2015

The Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe has responded to a recent resolution adopted by the European Parliament, including recognition of abortion as a human right, arguing that such an issue is only within the competence of national governments, not the EU.
MEPs Seek Human Rights Clauses in Agreements

March 18, 2015

In a recent vote, Members of the European Parliament ("MEPs") passed a measure calling for human rights clauses to be included in all EU international agreements.
EU Agency Seeks to Loosen Refugee Admission Rules

March 11, 2015

In light of the influx of refugees into EU member states, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights has called for the EU and its members to provide greater opportunities for refugees to enter the bloc legally.
ECHR Upholds Ruling Against Poland on CIA Cooperation

February 25, 2015

The European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") has rejected a challenge by Polish officials to overturn its judgment that Poland engaged in human rights violations by permitting the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA") to allegedly abuse terrorism suspects on its soil.
EU Parliament Investigates Countries' Cooperation with CIA

February 20, 2015

Following the release of a report on conduct in U.S. Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA") interrogations by a U.S. Senate Committee, a group of committees in the European Parliament have announced a renewed investigation of the extent of EU member states' cooperation with these CIA interrogations.
EU Committee Seeks Warning System on Rule of Law

February 20, 2015

The EU Committee on the Regions, comprised of regionally and locally elected representatives from member states, has called on the European Commission, as part of its "rule of law framework" announced last year, to provide an opportunity to local and regional officials to inform it regarding threats to the rule of law.