Full Professor of Human Rights in a Multidisciplinary Perspective at Utrecht University.
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Judges Who Are Too Talkative
It happens around the world that politicians comment on ongoing court cases. Rightly so, this is very often condemned as being detrimental to good and fair judicial proceedings, especially in the public perception. A fortiori, one would say, judges themselves should not…
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Women on Waves
Yesterday, the Court issued its judgment in the case of Women on Waves and others v. Portugal and found a violation of Article 10 ECHR (freedom fo expression). The applicants were three NGOs: a Dutch one (owning a boat on which they…
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Costa’s Views on the Court
As announced, the Court formally opened its judicial year last Friday – a very special occasion, since the Court exists fifty years. Thus, it provided the oppportunity for the Court’s president, Jean-Paul Costa, to look back in his speech at what the…
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Yukos Lawsuit
In December, I mentioned a judgment of the Court in the case of Aleksanyan, one of the former executives of the now defunct Russian oil company Yukos. Today the EU Observer reported that the Court declared a claim of the shareholders of…
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Annual Report of the Court
Yesterday, at a press conference in Strasbourg, the Court presented its annual report. For Court watchers, the report presents a familiar continuation of the trends of the last few years. A rising number of Court judgments (1,543: up 3%) and 30,163: up…
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Environmental Pollution Judgment
It is widely known that the extraction of precious metals from mines often happens by using dangerous chemical substances. If not properly used, such substances can cause damage to the health of people living in the vicinity of such a mine and…
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New Issue EHRLR
As the International Law Reporter notifies, a new edition of the European Human Rights Law Review has recently appeared (2008, no. 6, journal accesible through Westlaw). Specifically of interest for watchers of the European Court of Human Rights is an article by…
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Speech of Court’s President on Social Rights
Last week, the Court’s president Jean-Paul Costa spoke at the invitation of the Brussels Bar on social rights and the ECHR. Amongst others, he pointed out that the Court is increasingly showing, in its judgments, its awareness of the importance of the…
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After the Judgments – Consequences
For all those curious to learn more about what happens once the Court has issued a judgment, I would like to refer you to this clear overview provied by the Council of Europe, full of links and examples. Particularly useful to get…
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United by Force
States should be extremely careful to intervene in religious matters and if they do so at all, they should do it in a neutral way. That is the outcome in the case of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and…