Law & Justice

NGO Condemns EU Plans for Migration Centers

August 03, 2018

The nongovernmental organization Oxfam has “condemned” the European Commission’s proposals for migrant centers inside and outside the EU, asserting that the only way to deal with migration into the bloc is to prioritize migrant needs and rights and set up a system of responsibility sharing for refugees.
EC Describes Options for Migration Centers

August 03, 2018

The European Commission (EC) has outlined potential options for “controlled centres” in the EU, where migrants entering the bloc could be kept as the government sorts out their asylum claims, and “regional disembarkation arrangements,” to shelter those rescued from the Mediterranean in countries outside the EU.
CoE Body Warns of Threats to Judicial Independence in Romania

August 03, 2018

The Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s (CoE) advisory body on constitutional matters, has issued a preliminary opinion warning that Romanian justice system reforms threaten to “undermine” judicial and prosecutorial independence in the country, including through early retirement arrangements for members of the judiciary.
UK Committee Seeks EU-Style Environmental Watchdog

August 01, 2018

The Guardian reports that the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee has called for the establishment after Brexit of an Environmental Enforcement and Audit Office to assess environmental impacts of legislation and to continue the strict enforcement of environmental standards currently implemented by the European Commission.
EC Launches ECJ Case on Hungarian Asylum Policies

July 31, 2018

Politico reports that the European Commission (EC) has referred the Hungarian government to the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ), alleging that the government has violated EU law through its indefinite detention of asylum seekers in “transit zones” without giving them access to asylum procedures guaranteed by the supranational bloc.
EU Auditors Call for Clearer Criteria in Rule-of-Law Plans

July 30, 2018

The European Court of Auditors has issued a report applauding the European Commission’s (EC) proposal to condition EU development funding on respect for the rule of law but pushing the EC to make clear the guidance it will follow in assessing national rule-of-law situations.
UK Peers Predict Criminal Justice Meltdown After Brexit

July 27, 2018

The Independent reports that the UK House of Lords’ home affairs subcommittee has warned that the UK-EU Brexit transition deal permits EU members to refuse to comply with British requests under the European Arrest Warrant and is pushing for continued Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) membership to maintain full access to the EU’s criminal justice mechanisms.
EU Members Call for Creation of Counter-terrorism Register

July 26, 2018

At a recent seminar on counter-terrorism organized by the EU’s judicial cooperation unit Eurojust, French, German, Belgian, and Spanish officials called for the establishment of a European Judicial Counter-Terrorism Register to help national authorities identify links among cases and coordinate on counter-terrorism investigations.
Murray Calls for US Resistance to EU Antitrust Actions

July 25, 2018

Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute writes that, with its recent decision to fine tech giant Google $5 billion for “anti-competitive practices” involving the licensing of its smartphone operating system, the European Commission is seeking to “become the world’s antitrust regulator” using faulty analysis at odds with US antitrust rules.
EU Bodies Agree to Ban on Data Localization Laws

July 25, 2018

The European Parliament and ambassadors from EU member states have endorsed rules aimed at establishing a single European market for data storage and processing services by banning national restrictions on the geographical location of storing and processing non-personal data.