Articles for category: English Articles

Judges under Attack in Hungary

Judges seem to irritate the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who likes to talk officially about “the judicial state” and irresponsible judges. Despite many problems with judicial autonomy and practice, judicial independence itself has remained relatively intact from overt political influence so far. More precisely: the governing party and its friends could not completely rely on the courts to get favorable decisions. For example, governmental bodies have regularly lost cases initiated by civil legal organizations for the release of public information. That, however, might change after Orbán’s latest electoral victory.

14. Mai 2018

10 Facts on Poland for the Consideration of the European Court of Justice

In June, the European Court of Justice is to decide whether, despite massive legislative changes, the Polish judiciary is still independent and therefore able to ensure a fair trial to people extradited to Poland on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant. Marcin Matczak, a Polish lawyer, uses the old tradition of the amicus curiae letter – a letter from a friend of the court – to depict the situation of the Polish judiciary in 2018.

13. Mai 2018

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„Passive Indoctrination“ as a Terrorist Offense in Spain – A Regression from Constitutional Rights?

Spanish counter-terrorist legislation was originally aimed at fighting local terrorism of a nationalist nature. In Spain, the phenomenon was so present during the constituent process that the Constitution itself included a provision that allows certain fundamental rights to be suspended for specific persons, “in relation to the investigations corresponding to the actions of armed bands or terrorist elements” (art. 55.2 EC –Spanish Constitution-).

11. Mai 2018

The Case Law of the Bundesverfassungsgericht on Counterterrorist Measures

Ever since 9/11, a multitude of laws against terrorism have been adopted, both on the federal level and on the level of the Länder (which in Germany are mainly responsible for the police). The 2002 “Law on suppression of international terrorism” was only the first of many to follow: immediately after 9/11, the Federal Ministry of the Interior seized the opportunity to introduce counterterrorist measures that had been on its agenda for quite some time.

11. Mai 2018

Excesses of Counter-Terrorism and Constitutional Review in France: The Example of the Criminalisation of the Consultation of Websites

In the span of three years, France has adopted no less than five new counter-terrorism laws in November 2014, November 2015, June 2016, February 2017, and October 2017. As in other countries, this surge in counter-terrorism legislation has been prompted by a rise and reconfiguration of the terrorist threat (notably with regards to Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs)), and in turn by the United Nations‹ call for the adoption by states of new measures, in particular broad criminal offences. In order to address the threat of FTFs, impede radicalisation and recruitment, and pre-empt the commission of terrorist acts, Security Council Resolution ... continue reading

10. Mai 2018

China’s Constitution and the People’s War on Terror

When HU Bo posted his tweet in July 2014, he must have immediately felt that he had made a big mistake. Just three hours after he wrote in his intra-workspace social media group about the ongoing riots in China’s far western region of Yarkand County, he took his post down and shortly after surrendered to the police in his hometown of Ürümqi. He was in trouble because he had not only repeated the official news, but he apparently had added some unconfirmed rumors about the intensity and extent of the riots. This had put him outside of the law. Fake ... continue reading

9. Mai 2018

The State of Emergency, Non-Refoulement and the Turkish Constitutional Court

There is almost not a day that passes without terrorism featuring in the Turkish media, with national terrorism and the fight against terrorism being the subject of controversy both nationally and internationally. The broad definition of terrorism under Turkey’s Anti-Terrorism Law of 1991, the measure of discretion of the competent authorities in the modality of the fight against terrorism and the impact this has (had) on democratic freedoms is presumably well-known to the readers of this blog. To name but one recent incident: the judgment of a lower Istanbul court sentencing journalists to prison for their involvement in terrorist organizations, ... continue reading

9. Mai 2018

State Secrecy in Counterterrorism: Different Judicial Standards of Review – The Abu Omar Case before Italian Courts

State secrecy provides an interesting viewpoint on national and supranational judicial review standards over counterterrorism measures, since it has frequently been invoked by advanced democracies in the fight against terrorism. Over the last years, the shield of secrecy has consistently concealed abuses perpetrated during intelligence operations, including the controversial practice of extraordinary renditions (ERs), carried out around the world by the US jointly with several European countries. What is more, state secret privilege has often been claimed during criminal proceedings. Therefore, essential evidence of serious violations of human rights has been shielded by the privilege, promptly invoked by governments involved ... continue reading

8. Mai 2018

Is Travel to Syrian Warfare a Terrorist Crime? The Finnish Case

On 24 January 2018, the Helsinki District Court of 24 January 2018 ruled on an alleged plan by three Muslim men, all Finnish nationals, to travel to Syria and join the ongoing armed conflict there. The prosecutor chose to base the charges on Section 2, Preparation of an offence to be committed with terrorist aim, under the construction that joining the armed opposition forces in Syria so as to engage in hostilities against the official army of the al-Assad regime, could have resulted in death or injury to members of the Syrian military forces.

8. Mai 2018