Full Professor of Human Rights in a Multidisciplinary Perspective at Utrecht University.
-
Social and Economic Rights and the ECHR
Last week Jean-Paul Costa, the President of the Court, gave the opening speech (in French) at a seminar on economic, social and cultural rights organised by the French Human Rights Commission. It is well-known that the European Convention does not contain many…
-
Privacy Rights of Former Torture Suspects
Last week the Court issued its judgments in the two connected cases of Kyriakides v. Cyprus and Taliadorou and Stylianou v. Cyprus. The three applicants in the cases were retired police officers. In 1993 the three men were accused of torturing suspects…
-
Suicide in Prison Judgment
Today, the Court issued its judgment in the case of Renolde v. France. The facts of the case are sad: in July 2000 Joselito Renolde committed suicide in prison. He had been arrested and put into detention a few months earlier pending…
-
Two New Academic Articles on the ECHR
As I reported yesterday, the Court looked at its achievements and challenges at a seminar this week. For those interested in reading an external critique of the current problems facing the Court, the following recent article from the Human Rights Quarterly is…
-
10 Years of the New Full Time Court
Yesterday, the Court organised a seminar to commemorate that in a few weeks from now, on 1 November, it will be exactly ten years ago that Protocol 11 to the ECHR entered into force. The Protocol merged the European Commission of Human…
-
Another Echo of WW II
Two large scale problems arising from World War II were dealt with by the Court in the same month. Last week, I already reported about the finalisation of the Court’s pilot case procedrue in the so-called Bug river cases, concerning Poles who…
-
Georgian Battleground Moving to Strasbourg
The armed conflict between Georgia and Russia concerning the region of South Ossetia might have been relatively short for a war, the effects of this violence are still being felt. Now, the battleground seems to be increasingly shifting to the courtroom. Georgia…
-
Caught in a Minefield
Yesterday, the Court issued its judgment in the Albekov and others v. Russia case which may not only have been a landmark, but also a landmine judgment. Three family members of the applicants, all civilians, had been killed by landmines in a…
-
Conference on ECHR
The University of Nottingham’s Human Rights Law Centre is organising a conference for academics and legal practitioners on topical issues concerning the ECHR. This is the announcement: The Conference will be held on Friday 14 November 2008, 9am-5pm, in the Great Hall,…
-
Hearing in Domestic Violence Case
Today the Court held a hearing in a case concerning domestic violence. The applicant, Nahide Opuz, has lodged a complaint against Turkey. The case centres on Opuz’ extremely violent husband who gravely ill-treated her and her mother many times and eventually killed…