Law & Justice

ECJ Upholds UK's "Right to Reside" Benefits Test

June 16, 2016

The Court of Justice of the EU has dismissed a complaint from the European Commission claiming that a UK law restricting those migrants who do not have a "right to reside" in the country from receiving child benefits violates the rights of EU migrants against discrimination.
MP: UK Cannot Remove Unemployed EU Migrants

June 14, 2016

UK Member of Parliament and former minister for work and pensions Iain Duncan Smith has warned that, in practice, British authorities cannot enforce a recent law providing for the removal of migrants from other EU countries who have failed to find work within six months of their arrival.
EU Proposes Centralization of Migrant Integration

June 13, 2016

The European Commission has proposed an action plan on the integration of migrants and refugees from outside the EU that sets out a "common policy framework" for EU countries on ensuring that migrants contribute economically and socially to their communities and centralizes the EU "blue card" scheme for attracting educated people to member states.
CoE Body Criticizes Anti-Corruption Efforts in France

June 09, 2016

The Council of Europe's Group of States Against Corruption has issued a report asserting that France's efforts to implement the Group's recommendations on combating corruption have fallen short of what is needed and calling for further reforms toward transparency in the areas of the legislature, judges, and prosecutors.
UK Official: EU Prevents Deportation of Violent Criminals

June 09, 2016

As part of the campaign to leave the EU, UK Under Secretary of State for Justice Dominic Raab has released a list of 50 serious criminals he says the Court of Justice of the EU prevented the UK from deporting due to the bloc's rules on free movement.
ECJ: EU Members Cannot Imprison Illegal Migrants

June 08, 2016

In a case involving France's detention of a Ghanian woman who attempted to cross the border from Belgium after she illegally entered the EU, the Court of Justice of the EU held that member states are not permitted under EU law to imprison illegal migrants solely because they have crossed a border within the passport-free Schengen Area.
ECJ Official: Employers May Ban Headscarves

June 08, 2016

An Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU has opined that, under EU law, companies may institute a general policy on religious symbols that includes banning the wearing of Muslim headscarves at work.
Poland Considers Challenge to EU Rule of Law Procedure

June 08, 2016

Reuters reports that the leader of the ruling Law and Justice Party in Poland has threatened legal action in the Court of Justice of the EU against the "made-up" procedure the European Commission has launched on Poland's constitutional court standoff under its EU Rule of Law Framework.
MEPs Seek Extension of EU Criminal Record Exchange

June 06, 2016

Members of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee have backed a European Commission proposal to extend the EU's European Criminal Records Information System, under which EU countries exchange criminal records information on their nationals, to the criminal records of non-EU nationals.
EU Issues "Rule of Law Opinion" on Poland

June 01, 2016

As part of a process developed by the European Commission in 2014 that could end in the suspension of Poland's EU voting rights, the Commission has announced that it will send a Rule of Law Opinion to the Government of Poland pushing for a resolution to a conflict between the Government and the country's Constitutional Tribunal.