Search

Along history, aadoption has been considered as a legal and moral solution by which personal fulfillment and duty towards society could be achieved in full accordance with the generally accepted notion of family. The regulations that followed in this subject matter were in line with the historical realities, and the international norms related to this legal institution were adopted and ratified by our country as well. The fundamental rights and the best interests of the child have been the basis underlying the international conventions that established the guarantees for adoption. Even if the lack of blood connection could lead to the assumption that family ties would be vulnerable, the family's foundation requires love, mutual respect and trust. That is why in long standing couples the adoption of a child is only a strengthening of a viable, functional family life. The legal and moral issues that have lately emerged in the field of adoption are represented by the attempts of adoption by homosexual couples. In Romania, this problem is not current, because civil partnerships between same-sex persons are not legally recognized. In the states of the European Union, this issue is increasingly acute, hence the European Court of Human Rights has been appealed to in a few cases. In February 2017, the ECHR returned a positive resolution to a couple of Austrian homosexuals who considered themselves discriminated: the two women wanted to get the right to adopt the biological child of one of them. Austria has been convicted of violating the European Convention on Human Rights by differentiating between unmarried unisex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples if one of the partners wants to adopt the other's child. However, the Court maintained its own jurisprudence, establishing that limiting adoption to heterosexual married couples is not discriminatory where homosexual couples can marry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Fifth Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case regarding the conditions wherein State Parties may impose legal gender recognition. It states that the case concerned three transgender women not formally acknowledged as female. It mentions that the court failed to engage with both the development and practical application of diagnosis requirements.

In the dearth of legal interpretation of the phenomenon of human trafficking, a January 7, 2010 decision of the European Court of Human Rights has transfused new blood into the legal paradigms of fighting trafficking. The Court embraces trafficking as a global concern and takes a step forward with respect to its recognition of trafficking as an affront to human dignity by the international community of states. Often labeled "modern-day slavery," treaties targeting this global scourge date back to the early 20th century. They were constantly supplemented and revised, ending, on the world-wide scale, with the 2000 Palermo Protocol, and regionally, with the 2005 Council of Europe Convention. These two treaties marked the progression from approaching the problem with a focus on the punishment of the perpetrator to focusing on the interests of the abused victim from a more holistic perspective. Slavery itself, the prohibition of which is a staple of jus cogens-- the rarefied circle of norms from which no derogation is permitted-- has been interpreted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Kunarac as including not only the classic paradigm of the treatment of human beings as items of property law, but also as encompassing any or all features attached to the right of ownership, situations of absolute control of one person over another induced through force, fear or coercion -- the paradigm of human trafficking. This definition of "enslavement" as a crime against humanity was endorsed by the international community of states in Article 7(1)(c) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In a groundbreaking decision regarding Article 4 of the European Human Rights Convention (the human right to be free from slavery), the European Court of Human Rights in its 2010 case, Rantsev v. Cyprus, accepted this enlarged definition and overruled the classical interpretation it had espoused only as recently as 2005 in the case of Siliadin v. France. It also formulated novel state duties arising from this construction. Such obligations ranged from raising awareness about the phenomenon of human trafficking, training law enforcement and immigration officials on issues related to human trafficking, implementing administrative measures to regulate the operation of businesses that cover up human trafficking, and instituting necessary changes in the policy and the law related to immigration, criminalization, investigation and prosecution of all aspects of trafficking, to practically and effectively protecting victims' rights. This article analyzes this landmark decision and the consequences it might engender in the field of human trafficking. It also puts forth a discussion of the past efforts at addressing this problem and develops recommendations based on a holistic human rights-oriented approach to state duties in the field of human trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English law's traditional approach to the admissibility of improperly obtained evidence is currently being rethought in response to a range of domestic and international pressures. With the position in England and Wales following the House of Lords' decision in A and Others (2005) firmly in mind, this article undertakes a selective review of comparative approaches to the admissibility of improperly obtained evidence in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Having analysed relevant legislation and case law in each jurisdiction, general principles are derived to guide future developments in English law, in conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What duties do states have to individuals who suffer as a result of armed conflict? While the International Court of Justice has stated that the protection offered by human rights conventions does not cease in case of armed conflict, it has not provided any clarity on how this is to be interpreted. This article examines how the European Court of Human Rights has interpreted the duty of a state to guarantee human rights to persons in whose territory the state is engaged in armed conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an exploration into the legal conditions surrounding abortion law in Ireland and the judicial courts of the European Union. The details concerning two cases in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over Ireland's ability to uphold anti-abortion legislature are given. The author presents the argument that Ireland's national laws should be upheld and that the ECHR should not overstep its role in overthrowing Irish jurisprudence.

This article analyses the way UN sanctions are implemented in the European legal order. As a basis for the analysis, the European Court of First Instance's (CFI) rulings in the Yusuf/Kadi/Ayadi cases and the European Court of Human Rights's (ECrtHR) judgment in the Bosphorus case are applied. The main critique of the author is that the CFI misconstrued the hierarchy of norms within the Community legal order when it argued that the EC/EU (European Community/European Union) is bound by UN Security Council resolutions in the same way as the Member States. Moreover, the conclusion drawn from this by the CFI that UN law enjoys supremacy over primary EC law is also rejected by the author. Finally, it appears that European courts are unwilling to provide judicial review against UN sanctions, which results in a lacuna concerning fundamental rights protection for affected individuals and organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents several cases adjudged by European Court of Human Rights including the case of Jalloh v. Germany on violation of Article 3 of the Convention, Iversen v. Denmark on violation of Article 6(1) of the Convention and Gajcsi v. Hungary on violation of Article 5(1) of the convention.

The institutionalization of human rights in the EU started when the ECJ began to make references to fundamental rights in its jurisprudence in the late 1960s. In this article, I explain this development as rhetorical action among constitutional courts – the ECJ, national constitutional courts, and the European Court of Human Rights – which are engaged in a competition over jurisdictions in the liberal international community. Because human rights are the highest-order constitutional norms in this community, successful claims for legal autonomy and supremacy must be based on the ability of courts to protect human rights at least as effectively as their competitors. In order to defend its autonomy vis-à-vis national constitutional courts, the ECJ incorporated human rights into its case law. However, by basing its jurisprudence on the European Convention on Human Rights, it has become increasingly entrapped in acknowledging the supremacy of the Strasbourg Court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a considerable number of cases the European Court of Human Rights has held that civil and political rights encompass (social) fulfilment elements, which are otherwise considered non-justiciable under the conventions on economic, social and cultural rights. This integrated approach has frequently been described in legal literature. However, a satisfactory normative explanation to the phenomenon has not been given, and we have not developed clear legal principles of guidance to treaty bodies when having to decide when and to what extent social facts can be considered legally relevant under the conventions on civil and political rights. The article applies a hermeneutic perspective in search of a better understanding of the integrated approach, the legal implications of the notion of the indivisibility of human rights and the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the legal issues that arise from terrorism in relation to counter-terrorist legislation across the world by examining major developments in the jurisprudence, including examples from, the European Court of Human Rights, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa, India, Canada and Australia. Through these cases, the path from deportation to detention, to torture, control orders and finally, special trial procedures is examined. The article considers how the law must adapt to the new challenges it now faces; how courts, while being the guardians of individual rights, have to also take into account the seriousness of the terrorist threat. The article then draws some conclusions regarding lessons for the future, questioning whether the incomplete security which counter-terrorist measures provide, justifies their effect on the liberty of the individual and of the need to hold on to the fundamental values of a plural, democratic society, subject to the rule of law, in order to defeat terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case note on citizen's rights to respect their homes and human rights in the case filed by Gomez against Spain in the European Court of Human Rights. Gomez's right to respect to home and peace was breached due to high noise levels of bars and discotheques licensed by Valencia City Council, Spain. The Council was held responsible for violating Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The article presents facts of the case, decision and the Court's comments.

The article focuses on the application of the Protocol No. 14 in restructuring the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The protocol was presented by the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) to the Committee of Ministers in April 2003. The protocol will improve the case filtering process of the ECHR. It delineates the origin of the ECHR through a review of the 1950 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. It discusses the final Protocol draft to be ratified by the Contracting States.

The author focuses on article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights dealing with indecent images. He reveals that the objective test used by domestic courts has been in operation for many years without substantive challenge and that a person can predict what the jury considers indecent. This confirms that human rights has not been used as a challenge to an objective test for obscenity. He concludes that the decision of the European Court of Human Rights was inevitable.

Discusses rulings of the European Court of Human Rights on several lawsuits. Opinion of the court of the lack of violation to the Article 3 of the Convention of the ruling made by the Paris Regional Parole Court ordering an applicant's sentence to be suspended; Order of the court for Sweden to pay damages to the applicant because of the respondent State's violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention; Overview of the findings of the court on the case of one prisoner complaining of the lack of medical treatment while he was in prison in Ukraine.

Studies the limitations on religious freedom in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights that deal with religion; Aspects of the freedom of religion; Issues surrounding limitations on religious freedom raised before the court.

Reports on the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in the Case C-112/00 Eugen Schmidberger versus Austria. Basis for the verdict of the Court; Contentions of the plaintiff; Stand of the defendant.

This paper addresses the role of the European Court of Human Rights in interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights and attacks the standard image in the literature that pictures judges as having, by default, a great amount of discretion in interpretation and a power to create new law. The Court's notion of 'autonomous concepts' is presented and analysed thoroughly, to show that substantive disagreement is widespread in law and that judges must necessarily make choices precisely out of respect for what the ECHR grants. The paper draws resources from Ronald Dworkin's philosophy and shows the affinities between the theory of 'autonomous concepts' and Dworkin's 'semantic sting' argument. It is argued that all concepts in the ECHR are autonomous, in the following two senses: first, people do not share the same linguistic criteria on how to identify their meaning; second, the correct meaning may radically transcend the way the ECHR concepts are classified and understood within the national legal order. Judges therefore have to construct substantive theories that aim at capturing the nature or purpose of the right involved and of the ECHR more generally. The paper concludes by urging scholars and judges to stop raising the threat of judicial discretion and work out general theories of adjudication for the ECHR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the political origins of the global trend of convergence to constitutionalism and judicial review. Conventional theories of the constitutional transformation; Reasons of politicians for delegating policy-making authority to the courts; Significance of the judgments made by European courts in the European Union, including the European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights.

Discusses several cases tried at the European Court of Human Rights, compiled as of December 2003. McGlinchey and others v. the United Kingdom; Van Kuck v. Germany; Kepenerov v. Bulgaria.

This introductory article tries to give a broad overview of the importance of courts and of case law in the field of minority protection. Of course, judges cannot make the law as they wish according to positivist legal doctrine. Thus, a basic constitutional decision must be made whether or not to recognise ethnic differences. Two models of non-recognition are elaborated: the 'French model' of ethnic indifference, labelled the 'agnostic liberal state', together with the 'German model', labelled the 'repressive nationalist state'. In contrast, two models of recognition of ethnic differences are also presented: first the 'national state of promotional inspiration' and secondly the 'paritarian multinational state'. Finally, judicial review on a supranational level of control through the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice are addressed. In conclusion, through the principle of 'unity in diversity' the question of the protection of minorities of and in the European Union will become more and more pressing in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the absence of a specific provision on minority rights in the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols, the European Court of Human Rights 1 has reviewed, since its early activity, several cases concerning minority issues. Article 14 of the Convention guarantees the right not to be discriminated against in the enjoyment of Convention rights on the ground, inter alia , of belonging to a national minority, language, religion and national origin. In addition, the Court has afforded some protection to minorities especially by means of other provisions of the Convention, such as Articles 10 (right to freedom of expression), 11 (right to freedom of association) and 8 (right to family life). The present article contains a review of the main case law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning minority rights, in particular identity, linguistic and cultural rights as well as the political participation of minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Convention on Human Rights was adopted as an instrument to protect the rights and interests of individual human beings rather than of state parties. It thus embodies obligations which objectively protect human beings and are not reducible to mutual or reciprocal legal commitments of states. The jurisprudence of the Convention organs has recognized the importance of the nature of the Convention obligations, and has interpreted and applied a number of its substantive and procedural provisions accordingly. This has become possible through the use of appropriate methods of treaty interpretation, dictated by the character of the Convention obligations. In particular, the Convention organs refused to interpret the Convention restrictively, as this would endanger its integral application which is inherent to the Convention's object and purpose. However, the recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights indicates some trends which undermine the rationale of the Convention through the use of interpretive methods that are of doubtful value in cases in which they are applied. This article examines the Court's recent jurisprudence, and concludes that adherence to such interpretation approaches endangers the very rationale of the European Convention and its ability to effectively benefit those it has been designed to protect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the case on assistance to suicide regarding Mrs. Pretty, a 43-year-old British woman who suffered from an incurable disease. Exceedingly distressing and undignified final stages of the disease; Request to commit suicide with the help of her husband; Request to the Director of Public Prosecution not to prosecute her husband, which was denied; Appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

The article examines the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in a case involving the use of covert listening devices by policemen in the cell of applicants as an evidence for planned robbery. It mentions that the use of the listening devices violated Articles 8 and 13 of the European Convention of Human Rights which guaranteed the right to respect for private life and the right to an effective remedy. It says that the applicants were found guilty of conspiracy to rob.

Discusses the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on various cases concerning the civil rights of complainants. Issue on the right to liberty and security; Applicability of the provision on freedom of expression; Emphasis on the right to an effective remedy; Applicability of the provision concerning the right to protection of property; Elaboration on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Presents the summaries of judgments on various court cases from the European Court of Human Rights. Provisions of the law invoked by the complainant in the case "Ouzounis and Others v. Greece"; Contention of the complainant in the case of McVicar v. the United Kingdom; Decision of the Court in the case "Burdov v. Russia."

For the last 10 years, Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein has been suing Germany in various courts, including the German Federal Constitutional Court, the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice. Originally, the subject of the Prince's claim was the ownership of a painting seized, among other property belonging to the Prince's father, by Czechoslovakia in 1945. Now, the Prince is claiming reparation for the alleged German decision to treat Liechtenstein assets as 'German' for the purpose of war reparations. The article maintains that the real motive for the claim is an attempt to reignite an international juridical-political debate on the merits of the 1945 Benes Decrees and of the still unsettled Sudeten claims. Such issues give rise to a wealth of international law problems of general interest. The article mainly focuses on the human rights issues which faced the European Court of Human Rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was doubtful whether the exercise of the right to vote in parliamentary elections by persons detained on remand should be subject to any special conditions other than those dictated by the normal requirements of prison security. In any event, the Court did not accept that it was justified that such conditions should include an order to strip naked in front of a group of prison guards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom was not under a duty to provide a civil remedy to the applicant in respect of alleged torture which did not take place within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom or with which the United Kingdom authorities did not have any causal connection. The Court accepted that the prohibition of torture has achieved the status of a peremptory norm in international law. Notwithstanding the special character of the prohibition of torture in international law, it was not established that there was yet acceptance in international law of the proposition that States were not entitled to immunity in respect of civil claims for damages for alleged torture committed outside the forum State. The application by the English courts of the provisions of the State Immunity Act 1978 to uphold Kuwait's claim to immunity could not, therefore, be said to have amounted to an unjustified restriction on the applicant's access to court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right of an accused to free legal assistance is one of the elements inherent in the notion of fair trial. That provision attaches two conditions to this right. The first is lack of “sufficient means to pay for legal assistance”, the second is that “the interests of justice” must require that such assistance be given free. The nature of the charges against the applicant, the need to develop appropriate arguments on complicated legal issues or the complexity of the cassation procedure might, from the point of view of the “interests of justice”, necessitate that he be granted free legal assistance. There was a primary, indispensable requirement of the “interests of justice” that must be satisfied in each case. That was the requirement of a fair procedure before courts, which, among other things, imposed on the State authorities an obligation to offer an accused a realistic chance to defend himself throughout the entire trial. In the context of cassation proceedings, that meant that the authorities must give an accused the opportunity of putting his case in the cassation court in a concrete and effective way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there appeared to be a trend in international and comparative law towards limiting State immunity in respect of employment-related disputes, where the proceedings related to employment in a foreign mission or embassy, international practice was divided on the question whether State immunity continued to apply and, if it did, whether it covered disputes relating to the contracts of all staff or only more senior members of the mission. Moreover, the Court was not aware of any trend in international law towards a relaxation of the rule of State immunity regarding issues of recruitment to foreign missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The requirements of Article 6, Section 1 were not necessarily satisfied where litigants had been able to make use of domestic remedies only to be told that their actions were statute-barred. It was necessary in addition for the degree of access afforded by statute law to be sufficient to guarantee the right of the litigants concerned to a hearing by a tribunal, regard being had to the principle of the rule of law in a democratic society. The Greek courts had decided that the applicants' claim for compensation was out of time at an advanced stage of the proceedings, which the applicants had pursued diligently and in good faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In taking the view that the applicant church was not a new denomination and in making its recognition depend on the will of a recognised ecclesiastical authority, the Metropolitan Church of Moldova, the Government had failed to discharge their duty of neutrality and impartiality. Not being recognised by the State, the church did not have the right of access to a court to defend its rights and protect its property, given that only denominations recognised by the State enjoyed legal protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applicant was not able to bring his justified complaint about a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 for over sixteen years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the particular circumstances of the case and notably the importance of the decisions to be taken, the applicant had not been involved in the decision-making process, seen as a whole, to a degree sufficient to provide her with the requisite protection of her interests. The failure of the Regional Court to inform the applicant of the additional evidence obtained during the appeal proceedings which deprived her of the possibility to react thereto revealed an insufficient involvement of her in the decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Once an acquittal has become final the voicing of any suspicions of guilt, including those expressed in the reasons for the acquittal, is incompatible with the presumption of innocence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The procedure followed by the judicial authorities where the evidence of a child, reported in court by third persons, one of them a close relative, was the only direct evidence of the sexual offence in question and the domestic courts based their finding of the applicant's guilt to a decisive extent on the child's statements could not be considered as having enabled the defence to challenge the evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applicants could easily have dispelled the doubts voiced by the authorities, in particular by slightly changing the name of their association and by sacrificing, or amending, a single provision of the memorandum of association. Those alterations would not, in the Court's view, have had harmful consequences for the Union's existence as an association and would not have prevented its members from achieving the objectives they set for themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civil claim barred on public policy grounds without any examination of merits of claim [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Award of damages against a newspaper for defamation of cosmetic surgeon [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extradition to the United States of a person allegedly risking being subjected to “death row syndrome” and liable to be sentenced to life imprisonment without remission Extradition of applicant to the United States, where he had been convicted in absentia, following adoption of a US law allowing for the possibility of retrial [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NATO bombing of Belgrade [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses several legal issues concerning various court cases from the European Court of Human Rights. Issue on the territorial notion of jurisdiction; Elaboration on Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights; Applicability of Article 5 of the Convention, which is about the right to liberty and security.

Dismissal of cassation appeal due to appellant's failure to surrender into custody Refusal to examine cassation appeal against a criminal conviction Inapplicability of prescription to crimes against humanity Effects of a media campaign on the fairness of the jury trial of a former Minister Absence of reasons for jury's verdict in criminal trial [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dismissal of teacher for exerting political influence on pupil in the GDR Proceedings concerning the dismissal of a secondary school teacher [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents summaries of judgments on court cases from the European Court of Human Rights. Case of "McElhinney v. Ireland," in which the court held that there had not been a violation of right to a fair trial; Judgment of the court in the case of "Al-Adsani v. the United Kingdom," in which the Court held that there had not been a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights; Principal facts of the case "Fogarty v. the United Kingdom"; Decision of the court in the case of "Tsironis v. Greece."

Presents various cases from the European Court of Human Rights concerning the legal issue of admissibility. Case of "H.D v. Poland," in which the plaintiff complained of ill-treatment during arrest and during detention at a sobering-up center; Decision of the court on the case of "Riela and Others v. Italy"; Applicability of Article 6, Section 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights to the proceedings in the case "Mort v. the United Kingdom"; Judgments rendered on the cases of "Hammern v. Norway" and "Ringvold v. Norway."