All 46 Council of Europe members sign agreement ‘deplored’ by human rights organisations
The UK and 45 other European countries have signed an agreement that explicitly endorses plans to send unwanted asylum seekers to third country hubs.
A political declaration from the 46 members of the Council of Europe, the body that oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR), said states had an “undeniable sovereign right” to control their borders.
Continue reading...Council of Europe members plan to change interpretation of ECHR to make it easier to deport refused asylum seekers
Keir Starmer’s government has been accused of trying to water down legal protections for torture victims as ministers from 46 countries including the UK prepare to make it easier to deport refused asylum seekers and foreign criminals.
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, is expected to agree a “political declaration” on Friday with other members of the Council of Europe, which oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR).
Continue reading...Rajiv Menon KC was accused of breaching judge’s directions with his closing speech at trial of six activists
A leading human rights barrister has won an appeal against his referral for contempt of court over his closing speech during a trial of Palestine Action activists.
Rajiv Menon KC was accused of breaching the judge’s directions in the trial of six people for a 2024 direct action protest at an arms factory of the Israeli subsidiary Elbit Systems UK in Filton, near Bristol.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Council of Europe to meet in Moldova on Friday, with human rights body expected to recognise countries’ right to control borders
European ministers will this week discuss plans to send thousands of rejected asylum seekers to third-country hubs, the head of the continent’s human rights body has told the Guardian.
Alain Berset, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, said discussions about the removal of people who arrived in Europe by irregular routes would take place “at a multilateral level” at a meeting in Moldova on Friday.
Continue reading...More than 7,000 join employment tribunal that will include claims for minimum wage and holiday pay
More than 7,000 Just Eat couriers are taking legal action against the food delivery company in an attempt to gain better employment rights including the minimum wage and holiday pay.
The employment tribunal, which begins on Tuesday and is set to run until 2 June, will determine if the couriers are classed as workers, a status that comes with improved rights, or self-employed independent contractors.
Continue reading...Hangings are latest in wave of near-daily killings as authorities seek to instil fear amid war with US and Israel
Iran has executed three men charged in connection with political protests this January, authorities have said, the latest in a wave of hangings against the backdrop of the war against the US and Israel.
Iranian authorities have carried out executions on a near-daily basis in recent weeks in what activists have denounced as a bid to instil fear in society at a time of international and domestic tension.
Continue reading...PM worried about ‘cumulative’ effect of marches, as Met chief says Jewish communities facing biggest threat
Some pro-Palestinian demonstrations could be stopped, the prime minister has warned, as the UK’s most senior police officer said the threat to the Jewish community was greater than it had ever been.
Keir Starmer indicated he wanted the language expressed on some protest marches to be subjected to “tougher action” as he sought to allay the fears of British Jews after a series of attacks on their communities in recent weeks.
Continue reading...EnComm Aviation says the firm’s action has cut off vital support for crisis-hit countries including South Sudan and the DRC
Britain’s biggest weapons manufacturer, BAE Systems, is facing a £120m lawsuit after scrapping support for aircraft used to deliver aid to some of the world’s neediest countries.
EnComm Aviation, a Kenya-based aid cargo operator, claims the decision forced the cancellation of humanitarian contracts and reduced supplies to South Sudan, now threatened by famine, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), among others.
Continue reading...Actor and presenter broke his hip, right leg, pelvis and ribs when he gave a talk at CogX festival at O2 Arena in 2023
Stephen Fry is suing two companies that organised a tech conference where he was injured in 2023 after falling off the stage, high court documents show.
The actor and presenter broke his hip and had multiple breaks in his right leg, pelvis and ribs when he attended the CogX festival at the O2 Arena, where he delivered a talk on artificial intelligence on 14 September 2023.
Continue reading...Ruling is blow to Office for Students after it issued record fine for allegations over professor’s trans rights views
Sussex University has overturned a £585,000 fine by England’s higher education watchdog after the high court rejected claims the university had breached free speech regulations involving its former professor Kathleen Stock.
The ruling is a damaging blow to the credibility and management of the Office for Students, after the court rejected the regulator’s lengthy investigation, following Sussex’s handling of the protests aimed at Stock over her views on transgender rights and her subsequent resignation in 2021.
Continue reading...Eight EU members continue to include force or violence in their definitions in national criminal codes
The European parliament has called on the EU to draw up a standardised consent-based definition of rape, in what legislators described as a crucial step towards addressing the patchwork of laws, some of them insufficient, that currently exist across the bloc.
On Tuesday, 447 of the parliament’s 720 MEPs voted to approve a report calling for a common definition of rape, centred on “only yes means yes,” prompting a loud round of applause in the chamber in Strasbourg.
Continue reading...Families say ‘Ulm 5’ have been detained under extreme prison conditions since arrest last September
Five pro-Palestinian activists have appeared in court over an attack on an Israeli arms company in Germany, charged with causing approximately €1m of damage.
Prosecutors say the defendants, aged 25 to 40, trespassed and yelled pro-Palestinian statements as they destroyed office equipment, sensitive measuring devices and smashed windows at a site linked to Elbit Systems in the southern city of Ulm.
Continue reading...Testimony emerges from Babak Alipour, who spent three years on death row before being taken to gallows in March
Writing from his cell in the Rajai Shahr prison in the northern Iranian city of Karaj, Babak Alipour wanted to tell his friends about those who had already gone to their execution.
There was Behrouz Ehsani, 69, the elder statesman of the group, who was “never angry” about their predicament. Then there was Mehdi Hassani, a 48-year-old father of three who he saw a couple of times in the prison hospital and who would ask him to pass on to the children the message that he was “fine”.
Continue reading...Wendy Duffy died at Pegasos clinic in Basel as assisted dying bill in England and Wales fails to pass
A grieving mother has ended her life at a clinic in Switzerland four years after the death of her only child.
Wendy Duffy, 56, a physically healthy woman, died at the Pegasos clinic in Basel after struggling to cope with the death of her 23-year-old son, Marcus.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Scholars, writers and artists risk arrest with message of support for proscribed group before next week’s appeal hearing
Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg and Brian Eno have written to the court of appeal in support of Palestine Action before next week’s hearing to determine the lawfulness of the ban on the direct action protest group.
The letter, composed of only seven words – “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action” – is signed by more than 130 people and is the first time that prominent scholars, writers and activists have come together to defy the ban.
Continue reading...ICC judges say there are substantial grounds to believe Duterte guided anti-drugs crackdown that killed thousands
The former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, will face trial at the international criminal court (ICC) after judges unanimously confirmed charges of crimes against humanity over his “war on drugs”.
Pre-trial judges concluded on Thursday that there were substantial grounds to believe Duterte was responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder in relation to anti-drugs crackdowns that led to the killing of thousands of people.
Continue reading...Lawyers for oligarch claim freezing of £5.3bn of assets ‘unfair and abusive’ amid row over use of funds for Ukraine
Roman Abramovich has gone to the European court of human rights (ECHR), claiming that a criminal investigation into his financial affairs by the Jersey authorities has breached his human rights, according to reports.
The former owner of Chelsea FC, who is under UK sanctions over his links to Vladimir Putin, is being investigated in Jersey over allegations of corruption and money laundering.
Continue reading...Robert Albon cannot be declared four-year-old’s father because he ran illegal sperm donation business, court rules
A prolific unregulated sperm donor described in the high court as a “highly dangerous man” has lost a legal fight to be named as the father of a child conceived using his sperm.
Robert Albon, who calls himself Joe Donor, was not entitled to be declared the father of a four-year-old child because he was running an illegal sperm donation business, Britain’s most senior family court judge ruled.
Continue reading...Government amendment to children’s wellbeing and schools bill to replace existing guidance with statutory ban
A ban on mobile phones in schools in England is to be introduced by the government to ensure that “critical safeguarding legislation” is passed.
The government will table an amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill in the House of Lords after the bill was held up by peers on opposition benches.
Continue reading...Pedro Piscal pisco is latest Chilean brand to resemble a Hollywood name – and others have fought off the lawsuits
The actor Pedro Pascal is waging a legal battle against a Chilean pisco merchant who has chosen a cheeky name for his brand of the country’s national spirit: Pedro Piscal.
David Herrera registered the brand name with a Chilean commercial regulator in 2023 and began selling his pisco in off-licences and restaurants.
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