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Death penalty: key facts about the situation in Europe and the rest of the world

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Ombudsman inquiry on Commission President’s text messages is a wake-up call for EU

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The European Ombudsman inquiry into the Commission’s handling of a request for text messages between its President and the CEO of a pharmaceutical company is a wake-up call for all EU institutions about ensuring accountability in an era of instant messaging. One year after the initial request by a journalist, the Commission has still not clarified whether messages reported to concern major vaccine procurement deals exist and whether the public is entitled to see them. The Ombudsman had asked the Commission, in a finding of maladministration in January, to conduct a more thorough search for the text messages. The Commission’s recent response failed to say whether it had looked directly and correctly for the text messages and if not, why not. While the response recognised that work-related text messages can be EU documents, it reiterated that the Commission’s internal policy is, in effect, not to register text messages. The Ombudsman has closed  the inquiry  and upheld...
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Judicial Workload and Compensation: EU Law Does Not Mandate Extra Pay for Covering Vacant Posts (CJEU)

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Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-272/24 (Tribunalul Galați) on 13.11.2025: A judge who carries out tasks which fall to a vacant post at his or her court, in addition to those within the remit of the post to which he or she has been appointed, is not necessarily entitled to financial compensation. The grant of a rest period to compensate for the additional work is, under certain conditions, an adequate measure. The Galați Regional Court (Romania) is understaffed due to various judicial posts remaining vacant. A judge who has been working at that court since 2017 took the view that, since 2019, he has performed not only the tasks associated with his own post, but also, in part, those tasks linked to vacant posts.  Being of the opinion that he has worked overtime, that judge requested that he be remunerated for it. Specifically, he brought legal proceedings to claim a share of the net salaries and allowances attached to the vacant posts, divided by the number of judges in ac...
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ECHR Rules on Employee Data Privacy: The Guyvan v. Ukraine Judgment

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This case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) primarily concerned a complaint under Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically regarding the processing of data from an applicant's work mobile telephone by his employer. Facts The applicant, was an employee whose work mobile phone was also used for private calls. In the context of an internal investigation related to the use of the phone, his employer, P. company, obtained detailed information from the mobile phone operator. This information included the date, time, and type of communication (incoming/outgoing), and details about international roaming services. The employer requested this data to verify the applicant's presence at his workplace. The applicant subsequently lodged a civil claim against the company, arguing that the collection and processing of his personal data were unlawful and requesting that the company be ordered to provid...
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Fully-funded PhD position in AI, Law and Public Power

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Erasmus University Rotterdam School of Law, department Law & Markets, is looking for a fulltime PhD researcher in AI, Law and Public Power (4,5 years with 20% teaching tasks). PhD AI, Law and Public Power Are you curious about how artificial intelligence is changing state actor powers? Do you want to conduct critical and in-depth legal research at the intersection of technology, law and power? And would you like to combine that with academic teaching? Then this PhD position at Erasmus School of Law is for you. Within the Law & Markets team, you will spend 4.5 years researching the legal regulation of AI in the public sector. How do we protect fundamental rights when algorithms help decide on who receives public benefits, how to perform enforcement or how to enact environmental policy? What is the role of the state, and where is the limit of government power in a data-driven society? You will have plenty of space to choose your own research angle and work in a multidisci...
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Legislation lowering retirement age to 60 for female judges in violation of European Convention of Human Rights (ECtHR)

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In Chamber's judgment in the case of Pająk and Others v. Poland (applications nos. 25226/18, 25805/18, 8378/19 and 43949/19), the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority (5 votes to 2), that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right of access to a court) of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of all applicants, and a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) taken in conjunction with Article 8 (right to respect for private life) in respect of the three applicants who had lodged complaints under those provisions.  The case concerned four judges who complained about legislative amendments that had lowered the retirement age for judges from 67 to 60 for women, and to 65 for men, and had made the continuation of a judge’s duties after reaching retirement age conditional upon authorisation by the Minister of Justice and by the National Council of the Judiciary (“the NCJ”).  The Court took the view that judges should enjoy protection ...
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Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer has been opened for signature

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The Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer has been opened for signature on the occasion of the meeting of Council of Europe Foreign Ministers organised in Luxembourg on 13-14 May. This is the first-ever international treaty aimed at protecting the profession of lawyer in a context of increasing reports of attacks on the practice of the profession, whether in the form of harassment, threats or attacks, or interference with the exercise of professional duties. The  Convention  has been signed by Andorra, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Belgium, Iceland, the Republic of Moldova and the United Kingdom will sign it on 14 May. Lawyers play a key role in upholding the rule of law and securing access to justice for all, including to defend victims of possible human rights violations. Therefore, public confidence in justice s...
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Τhe procedure for appointing judges was not independent and impartial - Violation of right to a fair hearing (ECtHR)

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In its Chamber judgment of 8.11.2021 in the case of Dolińska-Ficek and Ozimek v. Poland (application nos. 49868/19 and 57511/19) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned complaints brought by two judges that the Chamber of Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court, which had decided on cases concerning them, had not been a “tribunal established by law” and had lacked impartiality and independence. They complained in particular that the Chamber of Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs, one of two newly created chambers of the Supreme Court, had been composed of judges appointed by the President of Poland on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary (“the NCJ”), the constitutional organ in Poland which safeguards the independence of courts and judges and which has been the subject of controversy s...
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