Search Results for: council of europe

The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission released an opinion Tuesday criticizing Hungary’s recent sovereignty protection law as a potential threat to free discourse. In light of its analysis, the Venice Commission ultimately recommended that the law be repealed. The opinion centers around Hungary’s Act LXXXVIII on the Protection of National Sovereignty, adopted in December 2023. [...]

Dr. Asaf Lubin, an Associate Professor of Law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, brings extensive expertise in international law, cybersecurity, and information warfare. With affiliations at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Yale Law School’s Information Society Project, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Federmann Cyber Security Research Center, he [...]

The European Parliament of the EU passed on Wednesday the first-ever Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. The act passed with a majority of 85 percent of lawmakers in favor. It aims to mitigate the risks associated with AI, while ensuring that AI systems uphold privacy, human dignity and fundamental rights. The act is also part of [...]

Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, does not shy away from tough questions. Though many in a position such as his might shy away from argument, Rae seems to relish the opportunity to engage in some intellectual sparring. It was in this context that I requested an interview as Canada grapples with multiple [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders issued a position paper Wednesday urging European nations to stop the state repression of environmental protest and to live up to their obligations under the Paris Agreement to cut global warming. In the paper, Michel Forst stated that the “repression that environmental activists who use peaceful civil disobedience [...]

Albania’s Parliament approved a deal with Italy on Thursday to hold migrants rescued from international waters at Italian-run processing centers. Amnesty International previously condemned the plan to create migrant detention centers under Italian jurisdiction in Albania, calling the deal “unworkable, harmful and unlawful.” The plan is to create two centers in Albania, one at the [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, published a statement on Wednesday calling for the UK government to take “urgent action” to end all forms of violence against women and girls. The UK government invited Alsalem to visit the country after labeling violence against women and girls a “national threat” [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declined a request made by the Supreme Court of Estonia to give an advisory opinion in relation to the prohibition of double jeopardy on Monday. The ECHR held that the question submitted by Estonia is the subject of well-established case law. Therefore, the ECHR concluded that it is [...]

The Prosecutor General of Belarus, Andrei Shved, announced Monday that the government has been preparing a bill that would punish the promotion of what they deem to be non-traditional relationships in a move targeted at LGBTQ+ unions. He stated that it was important to not even allow the discussion of the topic and that opponents [...]

The Israeli Public Defender’s Office warned in a report on Tuesday against worsening conditions of incarceration in prison service facilities. The report stated that the overcrowding in prison service facilities violated a prior High Court ruling and international standards. It called for immediate actions to improve prison conditions in Israel. The report stated that nearly [...]