07 July 2026
The Politics of Provocation
A recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights concerning a TikTok video published by a Georgian self-defined civil activist adds another layer to the Court’s increasingly messy Article 10 case law. The applicant repeatedly insulted public officials in crude and sexually explicit terms while broadcasting to a large online audience. Domestic courts imposed only a modest administrative fine, later reduced on appeal. The ECtHR did not find a violation of the applicant’s right to freedom of expression – raising several questions about the limits of legitimate political speech online. Continue reading >>
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29 June 2026
Looking Sideways
What are the major interpretative principles which assist the European Court of Human Rights in its decision-making? What role do they play in climate change judgments? Subsidiarity, the living instrument doctrine and a harmonious interpretation of international law all enable the Court to incorporate relevant comparative law into its reasoning. Climate change case-law is particularly well-suited to the comparative law approach and I argue that the role of comparative law can potentially have more impact in this emerging area of the law than in others. Continue reading >>
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15 May 2026
Shopping Lists and Steppingstones
The member states of the Council of Europe today, in Chișinǎu, Moldova, have agreed on a new Declaration to reform the European Convention of Human Rights. It contains a pick-and-mix of instructions to the Court on how it should reduce the current protections, relativize absolute provisions, and give states more leeway to do what they wish in various contexts. Getting too legal and technical might, however, miss the real point of the Chișinǎu Declaration. It might better be understood as a stepping stone to hardening domestic stances on migration and creating a common political position. Continue reading >>12 May 2026
Sex Workers in the Paris Senate
Legal frameworks for remunerated sexual services often reveal a weakness in our democracies: how to protect sex workers as a marginalized group without patronizing them. A bill recently introduced in the French Senate proposes to replace the current End-Demand legislation with full decriminalization. Drafted by a mixed group of interdisciplinary researchers and sex workers of different backgrounds, the bill tackles this weakness head-on – and turned out nuanced and detailed. Continue reading >>09 January 2026
God Save Freedom of Expression
An art exhibition by Cypriot artist George Gavriel was cancelled last month following intense political and social reactions, culminating in death threats and a violent attack. The episode raises a fundamental question under Article 10 ECHR: can the suppression of artistic expression through political instrumentalization and institutional withdrawal amount to an interference with freedom of expression in the absence of a formal ban? Read against the Court’s jurisprudence, the Gavriel episode illustrates a broader structural failure rather than an isolated anomaly. Continue reading >>18 December 2025
Judging Independence
On Monday, the European Court of Human Rights held in Danileț v. Romania that judges in principle cannot be disciplined for publicly defending the constitutional order. Coinciding with the early December 2025 reports exposing corruption and sustained pressure on the Romanian judiciary, the Grand Chamber’s judgment could not have arrived at a more timely moment. Danileț is an important moment for Romania’s judiciary and a reminder that courts must be able to speak – and be heard – when democracy and the rule of law are under threat. Continue reading >>22 September 2025
Legal Gender Recognition and Free Movement in the EU
Earlier this month, Advocate General Richard de la Tour delivered his Opinion in Shipov, a case before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dealing with the gender recognition rights of a trans woman who is originally from Bulgaria, where legal gender recognition is generally impossible. Given the conservative position of Bulgarian courts on this issue, the AG opinion could have far-reaching implications for the rights of trans persons in Bulgaria and beyond. Continue reading >>21 September 2025
Balancing Rent Control and Property Rights
Across major European cities, the housing crisis has moved from warning signs to full-scale emergency. As housing production slowed down and public stock was sold off or left to decay, European governments increasingly turned housing over to market forces. To deal with the stark consequences, governments have responded with a familiar tool: rent control. But these interventions raise complex legal questions. How far can states go in regulating the rental market without infringing upon landlords’ constitutional property rights? And what happens when these laws are tested before the courts? Continue reading >>13 July 2025
Assets Without Alibi
Păcurar is yet another version of the familiar cat-and-mouse game between anticorruption agencies and corrupt public officials: some public officials quietly amass real estate, luxury cars, financial investments, or cash, and – once confronted by anticorruption agencies to explain the difference from their declared legal income – rely on whimsical excuses. On 24 June 2025, the ECtHR held that wealth may be taken away if public officials cannot explain that very difference. This ruling completes the ECtHR’s endorsement of civil law instruments in the fight against corruption by fully disconnecting confiscation from any link to a crime. Continue reading >>
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27 June 2025