This week, the European Court of Human Rights announced the Grand Chamber’s judgment in X and Others v. Austria [GC], app. no. 19010/07, Judgment of 19 February 2013, in which the court considered whether a restriction on a lesbian woman’s ability to adopt her partner’s child violated the European Convention on Human Rights. In finding a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination)
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ILO Expert Meeting Aims to Develop New Standards on Forced Labor and Trafficking
The International Labour Organization (ILO) will hold a Tripartite Meeting of Experts at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland from February 11 to 15, 2013 to begin developing standards to address gaps in international legal protections against forced labor. [ILO] The experts, chosen in consultation with States and employers’ and workers’ groups, are to report on the additional standards deemed necessary to complement existing ILO
Read moreStruggle for Economic and Social Justice in the United States Continues on MLK Day
President Barack Obama highlighted the importance of economic and social equality in his second inaugural address today, the day on which the country also commemorates civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr. In the United States today, a record number of people are living in poverty. [NCLEJ] Economic and social inequality in the United States remains remarkably high, particularly relative to countries of
Read moreEuropean Committee of Social Rights Considers Labor Rights, Social Assistance, Access to Abortion and Environmental Contamination Complaints in 261st Session
The European Committee of Social Rights held its 261st Session from December 3 to 7, 2012 to consider seventeen collective complaints and examine States’ reports on their implementation of various articles of the European Social Charter. The European Committee of Social Rights, which typically meets seven times annually, is tasked with monitoring State compliance with the European Social Charter. Adopted in 1961 and revised in
Read moreUN Human Rights Committee: "Homosexual Propaganda" Conviction Violated Freedom of Expression
On November 19th the UN Human Rights Committee issued its decision in Irina Fedotova v. Russian Federation, Communication No. 1932/2010, a complaint involving a form of codified discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation that has become increasingly prevalent. The Human Rights Committee found that the applicant’s conviction under the Ryazan Law on Administrative Offenses (Ryazan Region Law) which prohibits “public
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UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty Reports on Individual Access to Justice
On November 5, U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, presented her annual report to the U.N. General Assembly. The Special Rapporteur highlights the obstacles faced by individuals living in extreme poverty when they attempt to access courts and other remedies. Linking access to justice to numerous other human rights, her report concludes that States
Read moreIn Catan and Others v. Moldova and Russia, ECHR Finds Violation of Right to Education
On October 19, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in the case of Catan and Others v. Moldova and Russia, nos. 43370/04, 8252/05, and 18454/06. The case concerned Moldovan nationals living in the Moldovan Republic of Transdniestria (MRT), a separatist entity that split from the Republic of Moldova in 1990 but that has not
Read moreECHR Grand Chamber Hearing in Catan v. Moldova & Russia: Linguistic Discrimination
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights is hearing arguments today (video here) in Catan and Others v. Republic of Moldova and Russia (nos. 43370/04, 43370/04, 8252/05 and 18454/06). The Court’s press release describes the applicants as “Moldovan nationals who live in the ‘Moldovan Republic of Transdnistria’ (‘MRT’), a non-recognised separatist entity which split from the Republic of Moldova in September
Read moreECHR Tomorrow: Hearing in Fernández Martínez v. Spain, Decisions on Medical Care in Georgia Prisons, Malta Land Rights, Turkish Army, UK Custody Death
On Tuesday, November 22, the European Court of Human Rights will hold a Chamber hearing in the case Fernández Martínez v. Spain (Application no. 56030/07) and release a number of decisions in applications against Georgia, Malta, Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, Spain, Montenegro and Estonia. The Fernández Martínez v. Spain case concerns the decision not to renew a Spanish priest’s
Read moreUN and Human Rights Orgs Highlight Religious Persecution of Christians
Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world, according to a Holy See report to the United Nations. [OHCHR] Human rights groups have urged Iran and Egypt to protect Christians facing religious persecution, including by halting the planned execution of Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani sentenced to death for the crime of apostasy, and by investigating the deaths of
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