Category Archives: European court of human rights

PMQs live: Rishi Sunak quizzed by Keir Starmer over nurses’ strikes

Posted on by

Latest updates: prime minister faces Labour leader ahead of industrial action by nurses on Thursday

Yesterday Mark Harper, the transport secretary, claimed that public support for the rail strikes was declining. Today Ipsos has published some polling that backs up this claim, although support for the RMT has not collapsed, and public opinion is still divided. It puts support for the strikes at 30%, down from 43% in September. And opposition to the strikes is at 36%, up from 31%.

Yesterday Savanta published polling showing a similar trend. It said that net support for the rail workers on strike was +21 in October (those supporting them, minus those not supporting them), and that now it was down to +13.

Continue reading...

Owen Paterson’s lawyers admit irony of his seeking ECHR’s help

Posted on by

Representatives of Eurosceptic insist he had been left with no option but to appeal to European court of human rights

Lawyers for Owen Paterson have admitted the irony of the former MP bringing a case against the UK government at the European court of human rights, despite having previously called on Britain to “break free” of the court entirely.

Representatives for Paterson, a prominent Eurosceptic Conservative who resigned last year in the midst of a lobbying scandal, issued a statement on Monday insisting he had been left with no option but to appeal to a court whose authority he had previously questioned.

Continue reading...

Vegan activist takes Switzerland to human rights court over prison diet

Posted on by

Man says state prison failed to provide adequate diet, in appeal joined by former psychiatric patient

Switzerland has been challenged at the European court of human rights over a failure to provide adequate vegan diets to a prisoner and a patient at the psychiatric ward of a hospital, in a case that could lead to veganism being interpreted as a protected characteristic under the right of freedom of conscience across geographic Europe.

The court, which is part of the Council of Europe and not the EU, this week formally asked its member state Switzerland to respond to the two complaints that Swiss state institutions had failed to provide a totally vegan diet to two applicants while they were in prison and in a hospital psychiatric unit respectively.

Continue reading...

Madeleine McCann’s parents lose challenge over Portuguese libel case

Posted on by

Couple sought redress from European court of human rights after libel case against detective was overturned

The parents of Madeleine McCann have lost their European court of human rights challenge to the Portuguese supreme court’s decision to throw out their libel case against a former detective who implicated them in their daughter’s disappearance.

Kate and Gerry McCann sued Gonçalo Amaral, who led the botched police search for Madeleine in 2007, over statements he made in a book, documentary and newspaper interview alleging that they were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance.

Continue reading...

France must rethink case of IS-linked women refused re-entry, rules ECHR

Posted on by

Families argued detention in Syria exposed the two women and their children to inhumane treatment

The European court of human rights has condemned France over its refusal to repatriate French women who travelled to Syria with their partners to join Islamic State and are currently being held with their children at Kurdish-run prison camps.

The ruling will be studied closely by other countries who still have citizens detained in camps in north-eastern Syria, including the UK.

Continue reading...

Viktor Orbán’s grip on Hungary’s courts threatens rule of law, warns judge

Posted on by

Csaba Vasvári’s claims of ‘overreach’ follow freeze on EU funds over concerns about judicial independence

Viktor Orbán’s government is “constantly overreaching” its authority to sway the courts, a senior judge has said, in an intervention that will deepen alarm about the rule of law in Hungary.

In rare comments that lift the lid on the Hungarian government’s assault on judicial checks and balances, Csaba Vasvári, a senior judge at the Budapest metropolitan court, told the Observer that he and his colleagues on the bench “have been witnessing external and internal influence attempts” for several years. Vasvári, who has worked as a judge for 18 years, is a spokesperson for the National Judicial Council, a self-governing body that has been battling to defend judges’ independence for more than a decade.

Continue reading...

Archie Battersbee’s parents take case to European court of human rights

Posted on by

Family submit application to Strasbourg-based court in attempt to postpone withdrawal of life support

The parents of Archie Battersbee have submitted an application to the European court of human rights (ECHR) in an attempt to postpone the withdrawal of his life support.

Lawyers acting for Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, had been given a deadline of 9am on Wednesday to submit the application.

Continue reading...

Suella Braverman out of Tory leadership race as Rishi Sunak leads with 101 votes – live

Posted on by

Latest updates: 1922 committee announce latest vote tally

Q: Lord Frost says Penny Mordaunt is not up to the job. You have worked with her. Do you agree with him?

Truss says she will not be making any disparaging comments about her opponents. The contest shows a broad range of talent. And the party did not get there through identity politics.

Continue reading...

UK Home Office plans second flight to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda

Posted on by

Flight could take off within weeks and before court has ruled on whether scheme is lawful

The Home Office is planning a second flight to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, which could take off before the courts have ruled on whether the scheme is lawful, the Guardian has learned.

It is understood that a second flight could take off in a matter of weeks despite the fact that the full high court hearing to examine the government’s Rwanda plans does not begin until 19 July.

Continue reading...

No 10 to set out sweeping plans to override power of Europe’s human rights court

Posted on by

Proposal to replace Human Rights Act with bill of rights is effort to make government ‘untouchable’, say critics

Downing Street will tomorrow set out sweeping plans to override the power of Europe’s human rights court just days after a judge in Strasbourg blocked the deportation of asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda.

The abolition of the Human Rights Act (HRA), including reducing the influence of the European court of human rights (ECHR), will be introduced before parliament in what the government described as a restatement of Britain’s sovereignty.

Continue reading...

People arriving in UK on small boats to be electronically tagged

Posted on by

Rights campaigners say ‘appalling’ pilot scheme treats those fleeing conflict and persecution as criminals

Refugee rights campaigners have described a new Home Office scheme to electronically tag asylum seekers as “appalling”, saying the move treats people fleeing conflict and persecution as criminals.

Under a 12-month pilot, which began on Wednesday, some people arriving in the UK in small boats or in the back of lorries will be electronically tagged.

Continue reading...

UK to challenge court ruling that halted Rwanda deportations, says minister

Posted on by

Thérèse Coffey says she is sure government will go back to European court of human rights over decision

The UK is likely to challenge the European court of human rights ruling that stopped the deportation to Rwanda of people seeking asylum and is already preparing for the next flight, a cabinet minister has said.

Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, played down the idea that the UK could withdraw from the European convention on human rights in response to the court’s decision, which halted the flight on Tuesday night.

Continue reading...

Rwanda asylum flight cancelled after 11th-hour ECHR intervention

Posted on by

First flight to Rwanda grounded after lawyers make successful emergency application

Boris Johnson’s plan to send an inaugural flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda has been abandoned after a dramatic 11th-hour ruling by the European court of human rights.

Up to seven people who had come to the UK seeking refuge had been expected to be removed to the east African country an hour and a half before the flight was due to take off.

Continue reading...

First UK deportation flight to Rwanda cancelled after European court intervention – UK politics live

Posted on by

Final remaining asylum seekers understood to have been taken off the flight following legal intervention

You can watch the Sturgeon press conference here.

Sturgeon is now taking questions.

Continue reading...

Omagh bomb suspect Liam Campbell extradited to Lithuania

Posted on by

Man held liable for the Omagh bombing, is due to face charges related to weapons smuggling for the Real IRA

The man found civilly liable for the 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people were killed has been extradited to Lithuania after a lengthy legal process.

The Irish supreme court ruled last week that Liam Campbell could be extradited to the Baltic country in relation to offences of smuggling, the possession of firearms and terrorism.

Continue reading...

‘Illegal’ extradition of Bahraini dissident from Serbia calls Interpol’s role into question

Posted on by

Abuse of the policing body’s ‘red notice’ system is blamed as an activist is forced to return to life in prison in the Gulf state

Marko Štambuk arrived at Belgrade district prison on a Monday morning in late January, only to be told his client was no longer inside. “Immediately I knew something had happened,” he said.

Štambuk, a lawyer, had spent the previous Friday frantically obtaining an injunction from the European court of human rights (ECHR) demanding Serbian authorities halt the extradition of his client, Ahmed Jaafar Mohamed Ali, a Bahraini dissident. This banned the Serbian authorities from extraditing Ali until late February, and warned them that doing so would constitute a rare breach of the European convention on human rights.

Continue reading...

Serbia extradites Bahraini dissident in cooperation with Interpol

Posted on by

Move comes despite European court of human rights injunction saying that it should be postponed

Serbian authorities have extradited a Bahraini dissident in cooperation with Interpol despite an injunction by the European court of human rights, in the first test for the international policing organisation under the presidency of a top Emirati security official.

Authorities in Belgrade approved the extradition of Ahmed Jaafar Mohamed Ali to Bahrain earlier this week. Days earlier the ECHR had issued an injunction saying the extradition should be postponed until after 25 February to allow Serbian authorities time to provide more information to the court, which was responding to a request by the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights to consider Ali’s case.

Continue reading...

Denmark could face legal action over attempts to return Syrian refugees

Posted on by

Activists fear a ‘dangerous precedent’ being set as Copenhagen uses a report that deems Damascus safe to deny residency status

Denmark’s attempt to return hundreds of Syrians to Damascus after deeming the city safe will “set a dangerous precedent” for other countries to do the same, say lawyers who are preparing to take the Danish government to the European court of human rights (ECHR) over the issue.

Authorities in Denmark began rejecting Syrian refugees’ applications for renewal of temporary residency status last summer, and justified the move because a report had found the security situation in some parts of the country had “improved significantly”. About 1,200 people from Damascus currently living in Denmark are believed to be affected by the policy.

Continue reading...

Court rejects attempt to reopen investigation into Yasser Arafat’s death

Posted on by

European court of human rights rules family’s appeal over French hearing is ‘manifestly ill-founded’

The widow and daughter of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have lost an attempt to reopen an investigation into his death in 2004.

Suha El Kodwa Arafat and Zahwa El Kodwa Arafat, who are both French nationals, filed a criminal complaint to the European court of human rights that claimed Arafat had been the victim of premeditated murder.

Continue reading...

The ‘human rights’ sex trade case that will harm women

Posted on by

A European court judgment this week could reverse laws that protect the vulnerable and abused

A case to be heard in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg this week could have disastrous consequences for those campaigning to eradicate prostitution.

The hearing is the first step in determining whether France’s laws on prostitution – which criminalise paying for sex – are constitutional, or whether they contravene the human rights of self-titled “sex workers”.

Continue reading...