European Institutions

CoE Official: Conscience Rights Are “Barriers” to Reproductive Choice

March 13, 2019

Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović has called on governments to respect “sexual and reproductive health rights” to ensure women have access to services including abortions, citing as a “serious barrier” to women’s rights the refusal by doctors to provide abortions on conscience grounds.
UK Parliament Rejects Revised Brexit Deal

March 12, 2019

The UK Parliament has rejected a revised version of the Brexit deal agreed by UK Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that would have limited, but not eliminated, the ability of the EU to keep Britain in its customs union on a permanent basis.
UK Official: New Brexit Deal Terms Present No Clear Exit Path

March 12, 2019

UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has asserted that British Prime Minister Theresa May’s new Brexit deal terms would still not permit the UK to withdraw unilaterally from the EU customs union under the deal’s provisions for an Irish border “backstop” if negotiators encounter “intractable differences” in negotiating a future UK-EU deal.
ECtHR Calls for Review of Life Sentences in Ukraine

March 12, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has called on the Ukrainian government to review every case in which the country’s courts have sentenced convicted criminals to life imprisonment to determine whether the detention is justified and inform prisoners the conditions under which they may be granted release.
ECtHR: Icelandic Leaders Violated Rights with Judicial Appointments

March 12, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the appointment by the Icelandic Prime Minister and Parliament of four judges of the country’s High Court against the advice of an evaluation committee was a “flagrant breach of the applicable rules” and violated the rights of an applicant whose case was pending before that Court.