Tensions have escalated in Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela in recent weeks as political protests have given rise to violent clashes and political upheaval. The United Nations and international human rights bodies have called upon each government to engage in meaningful dialogue to address these conflicts and develop solutions. [OHCHR; COE; UN News Centre] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon emphasized that “there
Read moreThe European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a judgment last week upholding a British court’s grant of immunity to Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials who allegedly tortured British citizens. See ECtHR, Jones and Others v. United Kingdom, nos. 34356/06 and 40528/06, ECHR 2014, Judgment of 14 January 2014. The UK House of Lords had blocked the plaintiffs’ civil suits
Read moreLast week, the European Court of Human Rights released a decision in favor of Italian parents whose attempts to give their child her mother’s surname were frustrated by the State’s adherence to traditional naming practices. ECtHR, Cusan and Fazzo v. Italy, no. 77/07, Judgment of 7 January 2014 (French only). The Court found the State’s refusal to allow a mother
Read moreBeginning January 1, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will apply several major changes to its consideration of individual complaints, pursuant to the entry into force of the new Rule 47 of its Rules of Court. [ECtHR Press Release] The changes to Rule 47 concern the form and content of initial applications themselves, and enforcement of the “six-month rule.”
Read moreOver the past week, the European Court of Human Rights has held hearings in several cases relating to the “war on terror,” at the same time as the United States has forcibly repatriated two Guantanamo Bay detainees, despite their fears of persecution. The following post summarizes these developments and – in follow-up to this previous post – also surveys recent advances in other
Read moreThe European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has confirmed that the implementation of Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights over the past three years has reduced its case backlog, particularly among the nearly 90% of applications deemed inadmissible. [ECtHR Press Release]
Read moreThe Registrar for the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently admonished several British newspapers for publishing misleading reports about the tribunal’s judgments. [The Guardian] The Registry‘s statement, which was emailed directly to reporters, explained that the ECtHR was “concerned about the frequent misrepresentation of its activities in the British media,” specifically pointing to recent articles discussing payments made to
Read moreThe European Court of Human Rights this week issued a judgment concerning an employee’s termination due to his HIV-positive status, and the lack of judicial protection offered by the Greek courts. See ECtHR, I.B. v. Greece, no. 552/10, Judgment of 3 October 2013 (in French). The European Court held that I.B.’s termination constituted violations of articles 8 (right to respect
Read moreThe European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in the case of Söyler v. Turkey, no. 29411/07, Judgment of 17 September 2013, has held that Turkey’s ban on convicted prisoners’ voting rights violates Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to free elections) to the European Convention on Human Rights. [ECtHR Press Release]
Read moreThe European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has launched both print and online collections of its leading judgments, decisions, and advisory opinions since 1998. Although the Court processes a high volume of applications and issued judgments in respect of 1,678 applications in 2012, the collections only focus on the Court’s most significant decisions interpreting the standards of the European Convention
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