Pussy Riot, the right to protest and to criticise the President, and the Patriarch: Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia

Guest Blogger Freedom of Expression, Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia

By Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy

In its judgment of 17 July 2018 the ECtHR has found various violations of the rights of the members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot. The ECtHR found violations under Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), Article 5 § 3 (right to liberty and security) and 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) ECHR (right to fair trial), in relation to the conditions of their transportation and detention in the courthouse, their pre-trial detention, the treatment during the court hearings (being exposed to public view in a glass dock surrounded by armed police), and restrictions to legal assistance. Most importantly the ECtHR found the criminal prosecution and prison sentence of the Pussy Riot members a breach of their freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR. It also found that their right to freedom of expression has been violated on account of declaring the Pussy Riot video material available on the Internet as extremist and banning it. This blog focusses on the applicants’ rights under Article 10 ECHR. Continue reading →

Human Rights Centre submits a third party intervention in “Conchita Wurst case”

Laurens Lavrysen Amicus Brief, hate speech, LGBT Rights, Minasyan and Others v. Armenia

The Human Rights Centre of Ghent University[1] has recently submitted a third party intervention in the case of Minasyan and Others v. Armenia, which raises important issues concerning the protection of LGBTIQ+ persons against hate speech. In our third party intervention, we invite the Court to clarify Convention standards regarding the positive obligation for the State to combat hate speech based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Before summarizing the main arguments developed in our third party intervention, I will first provide a brief overview of the facts of the case. Continue reading →

Of firearms and weak women: sex discrimination in Hülya Ebru Demirel v. Turkey

Guest Blogger Hülya Ebru Demirel v. Turkey, Prohibition of Discrimination, Women's Rights

Dr. Alexandra Timmer was one of the co-founders of this blog in 2010. She is assistant professor human rights law at Utrecht University, and acting specialist coordinator gender equality of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination.

Hülya Ebru Demirel v. Turkey is a case concerning sex discrimination in employment. A state-run regional electricity company refused to appoint the applicant because she was a woman, and the ECtHR duly found a violation of Article 14 ECHR. The judgment is largely a redux of Emel Boyraz v. Turkey (December 2014), which was based on similar facts. Demirel and Boyraz are interesting to discuss, as there are very few ECtHR cases concerning sex discrimination in employment. Unfortunately, as this blogpost will argue, the Court failed to address the structural hurdles that the applicants, because they are women, faced in the labor market. The State relied on obvious gender stereotypes, but the Court’s reasoning does not enter into that.  Continue reading →

Implementation of ECtHR judgments – What do the latest statistics tell us?

Guest Blogger Council of Europe, Implementation judgments

By Lucy Moxham, Associate Senior Research Fellow at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law

In April 2018, the Committee of Ministers (the regional body responsible for supervising the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights) published its 11th Annual Report. The Committee’s Annual Report 2017 is available in full here. This post highlights some of the headline statistics in the Report and what they tell us about the overall state of play with respect to the implementation of the Court’s judgments. A closer look reveals several areas for concern behind some of the positive statistics. Continue reading →

The CJEU’s judgment in Coman: a small step for the recognition of same-sex couples underlying European divides over LGBT rights

Guest Blogger Coman and Others v Romania, LGBT Rights, same-sex marriage

By Manon Beury, research assistant in Comparative Sexual Orientation Law, Leiden University

Following the eagerly-awaited judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Coman and Others v. Romania, the Romanian Constitutional Court decided on 18 July 2018 that same-sex married couples have the right to reside in the country if one of the spouses is a Romanian citizen. The CJEU ruled on 5 June 2018 that the term “spouse”, for the purpose of granting a right of residence to non-EU citizens, includes same-sex spouses. The decision was hailed as a great victory for same sex couples. Yet, overjoyed celebrations may be rushed. If the Luxembourg Court did raise the bar on LGBT rights in Coman, the step forward regarding the recognition of same-sex marriage is a rather small one. At a point in time where certain Member States are introducing a constitutional ban on and others are legalising such marriages, the Court in Coman served as a forum for political battles that crystallise a clear divide within the EU. Continue reading →

Mohamed Hasan v. Norway: Solomon’s judgment gone wrong?

Guest Blogger Mohamed Hasan v. Norway, Right to Respect for Family Life

By Evelyn Merckx, teaching assistant and PhD-researcher at Ghent University

King Solomon has proven to be a widely-used character in titles of papers regarding the placement of foster children and adoption. With the risk of becoming repetitive, the following analysis reveals why this case so strikingly reminds the reader of the biblical narrative. Though the facts are very similar, the ultimate plot varies greatly as the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights does not favour the “real” or even the “fake” mother, but the domestic authorities. Continue reading →

“Bulk interception of communications in Sweden meets Convention standards”: the latest addition to mass surveillance case law by the European Court of Human Rights

Guest Blogger Centrum for Rattvisa v. Sweden, Mass Surveillance, Right to Private Life

By Plixavra Vogiatzoglou, Legal Researcher, KU Leuven Centre for IT and IP Law (CiTiP)

On 19th June 2018, the Third Section of the Court, in its judgment in the case Centrum för Rättvisa v. Sweden, ruled that the bulk interception of communications scheme of the Foreign Intelligence of Sweden meets the Convention standards. This ruling follows verbatim the line of argumentation from previous case law on secret mass surveillance, thus reaffirming once more a high threshold for the protection of the right to private and family life. Continue reading →