Thema: Grundrechte

Verfassungsrechtlicher Grundrechtsschutz in nationalen Rechtssystemen, einschließlich Freiheitsrechte, Verfahrensrechte und soziale Rechte im Rahmen nationaler Verfassungsordnungen. Umfasst die Verfassungsrechtsprechung zu individuellen Freiheiten, rechtsstaatlichen Garantien und sozioökonomischen Rechten, wie sie von nationalen Verfassungsgerichten geschützt werden.

Media Pluralism in KRRiT-ical Condition

In April 2023, the Polish National Broadcasting Council, the so-called KRRiT, imposed a high fine on an indipendent media outlet. It was not the first fine of this kind to independent media organisations. The growing number of KRRiT decisions targeting independent media in Poland is the result of the political nature of the procedure for appointing members of the KRRiT and the broad, unclear legal basis for imposing fines. Since 2005, the decisive voice in the composition of the KRRiT was that of the ruling political majority. This blogpost analyzes and criticizes the vague legal framework for KRRiT and the institution's apparent political capture in recent years.

25. Mai 2023

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Marriage Equality at the Doors of the Indian Supreme Court

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India recently heard over 20 petitions seeking marriage equality. The significance of a positive declaration cannot be overstated. It would make India only the second country in Asia to recognize LGBTQ+ marriages. As India becomes the world’s most populous country this year, a favorable decision would also mean that an estimated 17.7% of the world’s population would come under a marriage equality regime which is more than the cumulative population of the 34 countries that currently recognize such marriages (17% of the global population).

24. Mai 2023

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Greece’s Ambivalent Turn to Militant Democracy 

On 2 May 2023, the Greek Court of Cassation (Areios Pagos) ruled on the certification of the candidate lists of the political parties that could lawfully participate in the Greek parliamentary elections of 21 May. It refused to certify the participation of the Hellenes National Party, the successor of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. The refusal to certify the party breaks away from previous case law on political party certification and indicates a tentative, yet incomplete embrace of militant democracy by a jurisdiction that has traditionally been hostile towards its philosophy.

24. Mai 2023

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Es steht ein Pferd auf dem Flur

Der Referentenentwurf zum Selbstbestimmungsgesetz ist da und befindet sich derzeit in der Verbände-Diskussion. Das Gesetz soll die personenstandsrechtliche Geschlechts- und Vornamensänderung erleichtern. Der Entwurf sieht auch Änderungen des Abstammungsrechts vor, die ausweislich der Gesetzesbegründung lediglich eine „Interimslösung“ sein sollen. Bei genauerer Betrachtung entpuppt sich die „Interimslösung“ jedoch als vorweggenommene Teilreform des Abstammungsrechts, mit der die Eltern-Kind-Zuordnung für queere Personen zukünftig nicht leichter, sondern schwerer, komplizierter und teurer werden würde. Es steht ein Pferd auf dem Flur – und es ist möglicherweise ein trojanisches.

23. Mai 2023

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From Contract Law to Online Speech Governance

For years, contract law has been a hidden protagonist in the in the discourse on platform governance. he sound of this silence is especially salient against the backdrop of recent European case law that uses the contractual toolbox to infuse social media terms of service with fundamental rights, in particular the freedom of expression. In this way, contract law has produced – somewhat counterintuitively – one of the most telling responses to the key constitutional issue of social media: how to reconcile freedom of expression as a public value with the private nature of social media platforms.

18. Mai 2023

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The Magic Bullet That Isn’t!

Article 17 of the European Union's Copyright Directive fails to effectively safeguard copyright exceptions, which can gravely undermine users’ freedom of expression in the digital public sphere. Against this backdrop, the enactment of Article 14 of the Digital Services Act offered fresh hope. Could it be the eagerly awaited ‘magic bullet’ that ensures effective protection of user rights to rely copyright exceptions to parody and quotation on social media platforms? The possibility of such an outcome is doubtful.

18. Mai 2023

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Was lange währt, wird endlich gut?

Nach langem Ringen haben das Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend sowie das Bundesministerium der Justiz am 9. Mai 2023 ihren Referentenentwurf zum Selbstbestimmungsgesetz (SBBG) veröffentlicht. Die Bundesregierung hatte bereits im Koalitionsvertrag (S. 95) angekündigt, das veraltete Transsexuellengesetz (TSG) durch ein Selbstbestimmungsgesetz zu ersetzen. Die ersten Eckpunkte wurden am 20. Juni 2022 vorgestellt. Seitdem ist nun fast ein Jahr vergangen, in dem eine langwierige und teils schmerzhafte Debatte über das Reformvorhaben geführt wurde. Diese wirkt nun auch in dem vorgelegten Entwurf nach: Denn unter den Grundsound der Selbstbestimmung mischen sich einige Misstöne, in denen Paternalismus und diffuse Missbrauchsbefürchtungen widerhallen.

17. Mai 2023

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Please Be Kind and Polite. Or Else…

Britain loves to project an image of polite calmness; of a stiff upper lip; of tea, crumpets, and lashings of ginger beer. The Paddington the Bear Twitter account epitomised this sentiment on the morning of the Coronation, reminding people to ‘be kind and polite today.’ Yet in England's green and pleasant land, as loyal British subjects scoffed their scones, quaffed their Pimm’s and raised a glass to their new Monarch, it was not soft-power but good ol’ fashioned state violence that ensured the historical Coronation went off without a hitch.

16. Mai 2023

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Squaring the triangle of fundamental rights concerns

Ex ante, the July 2022 ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU on Passenger Name Records had a very specific scope — the use of passenger name records by government agencies. Upon closer inspection, however, it has important implications for the governance of algorithms more generally. That is true especially for the proposed AI Act, which is currently working its way through the EU institutions. It highlights, ultimately, how national, or in this case European, legal orders may limit the scope for international regulatory harmonization and cooperation.

12. Mai 2023

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Automated predictive threat detection after Ligue des Droits Humains

The Ligue des droits humains ruling regarding automated predictive threat detection has implications for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) Regulation and the EU Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on combating online child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Both legal instruments entail the use of potentially self-learning algorithms, and are spiritual successors to the PNR Directive (the subject of Ligue des droits humains).

12. Mai 2023

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