23 September 2023
Be Careful What You Wish For
The European Court of Human Rights has issued some troubling statements on how it imagines content moderation. In May, the Court stated in Sanchez that “there can be little doubt that a minimum degree of subsequent moderation or automatic filtering would be desirable in order to identify clearly unlawful comments as quickly as possible”. Recently, it reiterated this position. This shows not only a surprising lack of knowledge on the controversial discussions surrounding the use of filter systems (in fact, there’s quite a lot of doubt), but also an uncritical and alarming approach towards AI based decision-making in complex human issues. Continue reading >>
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09 September 2023
Shielding Frontex
In a landmark case, the EU General Court ruled this week on liability claims against Frontex for human rights violations - and rejected the damage claims. The case was the first of its kind concerning human rights responsibility of Frontex and had all the ingredients to prompt the General Court to finally clarify a number of pervasive and urgent questions concerning Frontex responsibility for complicity in unlawful human rights conduct. Instead, by conflating the wrongful conduct under scrutiny, the Court prevents a critical examination of Frontex’s conduct altogether. The significance of the case thus lies in the adopted approach by the Court, which, in effect, contributes to the systematic shielding of Frontex from any responsibility for contributions to human rights harms. Continue reading >>03 August 2023
Out of the Woods?
Large-scale deforestation not only accelerates climate change and biodiversity loss, it is also a serious threat to human rights. While the EU has pursued strategies to combat illegal logging since the early 2000s, it has mostly turned a blind eye to the adverse human rights effects of deforestation. The new EU Regulation on Deforestation (EUDR) acknowledges that human rights and the protection of forests are inextricably linked, but is this really a “major step for ‘deforestation-free’ trade”? This post provides a brief introduction to the EUDR, its most salient features, and critically, its weak points. Continue reading >>
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26 July 2023
A Human Rights Breakthrough in Sports Law?
On 11 July 2023, the ECtHR found in its Chamber judgment in Semenya v. Switzerland that international-level athlete Mokgadi Caster Semenya had been discriminated against by the Eligibility Regulations for Female Classification of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF, now World Athletics). These regulations required her to undergo hormone treatment to lower her natural testosterone levels in order to be admitted to international competitions in the female category. In the Chamber's view, Switzerland had violated the Convention by failing to provide sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards to enable Ms. Semenya to have her discrimination complaints effectively examined. If the GC upholds the Chamber’s findings on jurisdiction and scrutiny, the Semenya judgment will have a significant impact on the human rights approach of sports federations and on future CAS proceedings. Continue reading >>
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19 June 2023
On the Pylos Shipwreck
Only 104 out of the 750 passengers who travelled on the fishing boat, which capsized on June 14 and sank in the Ionian Sea, were rescued. The bodies of 80 have been recovered so far and the remaining passengers, an estimated total of as many as 500 people, including large numbers of women and children, remain missing. The boat had departed from Libya the previous Friday and was heading towards Italy. The tragic shipwreck, which immediately became yet another icon of the never-ending catastrophe of asylum seeking in the Mediterranean, occurred on the high seas, 87 kilometres from the Greek Coast. As long as the overarching policy aim is to deter racialized migrants from entering the EU, tragedies like the one in Pylos are bound to continue. Continue reading >>
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09 June 2023
Regulating the Sustainability Transition
The European Parliament’s adoption of its position on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) last week marks a breakthrough for transnational corporate regulation. At a moment when the EU Green Deal was facing open opposition from within the European People’s Party Group (EPP), rapporteur Lara Wolters (S&P) withstood lobbying efforts until the final minute and secured a majority for her report. With a strong mandate for the Parliament in the upcoming Trilogue, the EU has come a big step closer to passing the most ambitious due diligence legislation worldwide. Continue reading >>
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19 May 2023
Including the Arms Sector in the EU Corporate Due Diligence Directive
The imminent passage of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) into law could drastically change the regulatory makeup of the civilian firearms industry in Europe. As the EU Parliament, Commission and Council prepare to enter the so-called ‘trilogues’ to adopt a final text, an open question is whether they will include the arms industry within the scope of the Directive. If so, the resulting provisions could include corporate due diligence obligations for downstream elements of the value chain, thus reinforcing monitoring and accountability. This post highlights the accountability deficit in the current European firearms export regime and shows how the CSDDD could help redress this situation while preventing trafficking and diversion. Continue reading >>10 May 2023
Effective Human Rights Due Diligence Ten Years After Rana Plaza?
Ten years after the deadly Rana Plaza disaster with 1135 dead and more than 2000 injured workers, a complaint has been made for the first time on the basis of the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz, LkSG) to the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle, BAFA). The complaint argues that IKEA and Amazon failed to exercise due diligence under the LkSG by refusing to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (Bangladesh Accord) and its successor, the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry (International Accord). In this post, we explore the relationship between the Accord and human rights due diligence and argue that joining the Accord is essential for fulfilling the due diligence obligations under the LkSG. We argue that Amazon seems to have violated the LkSG prima facie while IKEA’s claim would have to be assessed in-depth by BAFA. Continue reading >>
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23 March 2023
Peaceful and Neutral Games
In a statement issued on March 17, 2023, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) advocated to uphold the current exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from international competitions. In light of the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris 2024 this topic is currently of great concern to the international sports world. From a human rights perspective, I agree with the core of the DOSB position: the exclusion serves the aims of protecting the rights of Ukrainian athletes and of preventing sporting events from being instrumentalised for war propaganda. These are legitimate reasons for the unequal treatment of Russian athletes. Continue reading >>
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10 March 2023
What is the Point of the UK’s Illegal Migration Bill?
The introduction of the Illegal Migration Bill to the UK Parliament appears to be the latest outburst of the Conservative government’s increasing hysteria with respect to the small boat crossings of the Channel in which Brexit-released fantasies of post-imperial sovereign power are acted out in the form of half-baked legislative proposals. The politically inconvenient fact that most of the 15% of asylum seekers who reach UK territory in this way are found to have legitimate asylum or protection claims seems to be a particular source of rage with a leaked Conservative Party email to party members under Suella Braverman’s name blaming “an activist blob of leftwing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party” for boat crossings, which at least suggests she knows her audience. This is “Build the Wall” for an island nation and, like Trump’s project, its primary value is as a fantasy object than a practical project. Continue reading >>
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