Break from the Break
On the epic fight about Prawo and Sprawiedliwość that is going on in Poland and other estival reasons for constitutional alarm.
Articles for category: English Articles
Are National Governments Liable if They Miss Their Relocation Quota of Refugees?
Last week, the Spanish Supreme Court declared that between 2015 and 2017 the Government of Spain had failed to relocate 19.449 refugees from Greece and Italy. The Court considered in its Judgement of 9th July of 2018 that Spain was bound by two Council Decisions of May and September 2015 establishing an EU Emergency Relocation Mechanism aimed at distributing some of the refugees that arrived at their coasts during the so-called ‘refugee crisis’. The relocation mechanism included a table with the number of refugees Member States were obliged to accommodate in their own international protection systems (‘quota’).
The Curious Case of Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code: Insulting the Turkish President
Judgments by the Strasbourg Court are binding on Turkey and furthermore are the primary source for interpreting the European Convention of Human Rights, a treaty to which Turkey is party and which, according to Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution, prevails over national laws such as Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code on insulting the President, in the event of conflict. ECtHR jurisprudence clearly indicates such a conflict between Article 299 and the Convention. But are Turkish courts aware of this?
Germany’s Moral Responsibility to Support a Treaty on Business and Human Rights
In a massive conglomeration called the Treaty Alliance, leading human rights NGOs around the world together with many luminary academics are calling for a treaty between states on business and human rights that would seek to prevent human rights violations by businesses from occurring and ensure they do not go unpunished, or at least uncompensated. Such a treaty is necessary given the need to address a number of problems in international law that have prevented victims of human rights violations from being able to gain remedies against errant corporations.
The ECtHR and Post-coup Turkey: Losing Ground or Losing Credibility?
Since Turkey’s coup attempt in July 2016, human rights violations have been abundant. With a broken Turkish justice system, the ECtHR has received over 33,000 applications from the country, with 30 to 40 more incoming each week. Shockingly, more than 90% of these applications have been dismissed. This is often on dubious grounds, causing experts and Turkish citizens alike to condemn its response.
Neues vom Glossator (14): Kämpfen, kommentieren, durch Texte kämpfen
Von Organen und Maschinen, Gesetzen und Polypen, Rudolf Jhering und Roger Caillois.
Being Gay under India’s Constitution
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code penzalizes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature". The Indian Supreme Court heard a case last week that could finally lead to the end of this residue of British colonial rule.
Seven Long Years
On staring into abysses, the passing of time and what we all want to be remembered for.
Order in the Eurozone: MAURIZIO FERRERA and CLAUS OFFE in Conversation
A German-Italian exchange on the dysfunctionalities of the European Monetary Union and the ongoing social and political crisis particularly in Southern Europe.
The Disheartening Speech by the President of Bulgaria’s Supreme Court Which Nobody in Brussels Noticed
While many foreign commentators focus on the endangered democratic values in Poland and Hungary, the situation in Bulgaria is equally deplorable. If the President of the Supreme Court contends that there is no separation of powers and that his family is facing abuse because he turns down orders by the executive, then surely ordinary citizens, especially critics of the government, have no means to protect themselves from the rage of those who have captured the Bulgarian State.
