31 October 2024
Maintaining Resilience in Human Rights Interpretation
In the Religious Movement Advisory Opinion, the European Court of Human Rights established detailed risk and proportionality assessment criteria that deviate from its previous case law in individual applications. The Court thus seems eager to embrace its standard-setting role and the spirit of dialogue inherent in the advisory opinion procedure, indicating some potential for resilience in rights interpretation within this sensitive context. Continue reading >>
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13 October 2024
Security Considerations, the Duty to End Belligerent Occupations and the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Israeli practices and policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
This contribution discusses three possible rationales for the Court’s rejection of the relevance of Israel’s security concerns: Lack of proof of serious and legitimate security concerns by Israel, the insufficiency of broad security concerns to justify the continued use of force, and the insufficiency of broad security concerns to deny realization of Palestinian self-determination. As long as international law doctrine on the duty to end a belligerent occupation despite the prevalence of serious security concerns remains contested, and as long as security conditions in the region remain extremely unstable, it is unlikely that a withdrawal will be deemed practicable Continue reading >>08 August 2024
Could Hungary be suspended from Schengen?
In early July, the Orbán government announced that it would extend a program that grants third country nationals simplified access and stay to work in Hungary to Russian and Belarussian nationals. This blog maps the ways in which Hungary’s policy might undermine the security of the Schengen area and surveys the tools Member States and EU institutions have at their disposal to counter it. Should the Hungarian government fail to dispel the concerns raised by its extension of the national card system, these mechanisms should be activated to safeguard the security of the Schengen area. Continue reading >>21 May 2024
„Mr. President, Does the TikTok ban conform with the Constitution?“
Der US-Kongress hat ein Verbot von TikTok beschlossen, dies im Rahmen von zwei Gesetzen, welche sich – aus Gründen der nationalen Sicherheit und des Datenschutzes – gegen von feindlichen ausländischen Staaten (Foreign Adversary Countries) beherrschten Unternehmungen richten. Damit soll es in den USA nunmehr zwei Standards bei Plattformregulierungen geben: Sehr liberale als Normalfall, und strenge in Zusammenhang mit sog. Foreign Adversary Countries. Continue reading >>
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01 December 2023
A Borderline Case
On 28 November 2023, Finland decided to close all its land border crossing stations to Russia due to the latter's apparent instrumentalization of migrants. That a foreign power, which conducts war elsewhere in Europe, directly engages in unfriendly acts against the EU’s (as well as NATO’s) eastern flank highlights the issues of national security involved. The situation is part of a broader European dilemma but presents certain idiosyncracies. How is an EU Member State such as Finland, respectful of the rule of law, to respond to such unfriendly acts which intrumentalize the vulnerable position of asylum seekers whose rights must, in principle, be observed at all times? This brief post addresses some of the legal issues involved in the currently unfolding situation. Continue reading >>
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16 March 2023
The Begum Case: Why Ministerial Discretion Precludes Human Rights Issues
In recent years, cancellation of British citizenship has become a high-profile issue. This is not least because of the case of Shamima Begum, who left the UK as a 15-year-old British schoolgirl for Syria in 2015. Upon being found in a camp in Syria four years ago, the Home Secretary removed her British citizenship soon thereafter, leaving her de facto stateless. After protracted litigation surrounding a number of preliminary issues, three weeks ago, Begum lost her appeal against the decision in front of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission’s (SIAC). The Commission’s refusal to allow her appeal is remarkable for the nearly unlimited degree of discretion it appears to grant the Home Secretary in cancellation cases, even where human rights are at stake. Continue reading >>10 March 2023
Shamima Begum’s Banishment is a Threat to Us All
Two weeks ago, the British Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) rejected Shamima Begum’s appeal against the Home Secretary’s decision to deprive her of citizenship, dealing the latest blow in her on-going battle to regain her status. SIAC’s choice to uphold the Home Secretary’s deprivation decision is not just blatantly unjust, unfairly punishing a victim of child trafficking, but also indicates a dangerous decline in the UK’s commitment to the rule of law. Continue reading >>16 February 2023
Watchdog Watching Too Closely
In December 2017, readers of the largest and maybe also the most esteemed Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, were surprised to find an article which, among others, showed excerpts of classified, red-labelled documents. Very little was publicly known about the workings of that special center, part of the military intelligence, situated in a faraway resort. More than five years later, on January 27th, 2023, the Helsinki District Court found both of the journalists guilty of criminal disclosure charges. Put simply, the court’s decision is that media may report abuses of power. However, an interest to attract readers only is not enough to justify the disclosure. Continue reading >>
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28 August 2022
Secrecy, Democracy, and the Greek Wiretapping Case
The Androulakis case not only challenged and altered the Greek political agenda, but also provoked substantial concerns about the protection of the right to secrecy of communications and in a wider sense the quality of rule of law in Greece. Continue reading >>
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06 April 2022
Arming for Peace
The German chancellor’s speech on February 27, 2022, stating that changed times also demand changed policies, has been readily interpreted as a plea for a primarily military-focused policy aimed at deterrence, which may now finally once again be oriented towards political realities. It is almost breathtaking how, in a very short time, entire traditions of thought are nominally being laid to rest in this debate, without any critical questioning of whether this is justified: Does the war in Ukraine really demonstrate that diplomacy or the approach of interdependence have failed? How wise can a policy be that simply wants to reverse past policy by means of a „turning point“? Continue reading >>
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