Law & Justice

CoE Body Criticizes Softened Legislation on Polish Judiciary

October 20, 2016

The Council of Europe's body of constitutional experts, the Venice Commission, has criticized a new Polish law on the country's Constitutional Tribunal - responding to objections the Commission raised regarding a previous law - for threatening the independence of the judiciary and challenging the position of the Tribunal as the "final arbiter" on constitutional issues.
EU Committee Seeks Strengthened "Rule of Law" Monitoring

October 19, 2016

Politico reports that the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee has adopted a report calling for the creation of a European Pact for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights to provide a "non-politically motivated" mechanism through which EU officials can monitor the justice systems of the bloc's member states.
Germany Plans Restrictions on EU Migrant Benefits

October 19, 2016

The Guardian reports that the German government has approved legislation that would permit EU migrants who have not worked in Germany to claim social benefits only after spending five years in the country.
CoE Body Evaluates European Justice Systems

October 18, 2016

The Council of Europe's Commission for the Efficiency of Justice has published its latest report evaluating the efficiency, quality, and effectiveness of the national justice systems of CoE member states.
EU Challenges Search Engines with Copyright Proposal

October 18, 2016

Heidi Tworek of the University of British Columbia warns that an EU proposal to translate German copyright law into supranational legislation that would require search engines such as Google to pay media companies for displaying brief snippets of their articles would be unenforceable and should give way to a more cooperative approach.
EU Official Pushes for Centralized Public Prosecutor

October 17, 2016

European Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová and two Members of the European Parliament write that the EU must establish a centralized European Public Prosecutors’ Office to combat cross-border financial crimes involving fraud against national and EU budgets.
EU Complaint Alleges UK Failure to Protect Porpoise

October 14, 2016

The European Commission has filed a complaint against the UK in the Court of Justice of the EU over Britain's failure to designate a sufficient number of special zones within its waters for the protection of the harbour porpoise in line with an EU directive on the conservation of natural habitats.
EU Files Legal Complaint over German Road Tolls

October 12, 2016

EurActiv reports that the European Commission has referred the German government to the Court of Justice of the EU over legislation it argues favors German drivers over those of other EU countries by permitting the former to deduct road toll payments from their annual vehicle taxes.
ECJ Adviser Finds Insufficient Support for Terror Sanctions

September 22, 2016

Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston has advised the ECJ that the EU's listing of the organizations Hamas and the Tamil Tigers as terrorist groups subject to sanctions are invalid because their inclusion was based on "facts and evidence found in press articles and information from the internet."
EU Parliament Presses Poland to End Court Standoff

September 21, 2016

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution pressuring the Polish government to end a legal standoff with the country's Constitutional Tribunal within the three-month time period required by the European Commission's "Rule of Law Recommendation" issued to the country in July.