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The horizontal effect of Directives

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By Evlampia Tsolaki, Attorney at Law EU law constitutes a sui generis legal order, namely an environment with distinguishable characteristics in comparison with the traditional patterns of lawful action that have been established on the basis of standard public international law.   Its special nature derives from a pivotal general principle that has been conceived and articulated by the leading judicial body of EU, the European Court of Justice (hereinafter ECJ), which has been followed in an absolute way, meaning with no exceptions being accepted, and states that EU incarnates a prototypical legal order. Namely, it is a public international legal formation with no precedence universally for it does not go with the flow of the rules long and deeply rooted in the arena of the states’ international relations, but it does make itsown rules. An essential parameter of the aforementioned innovative rules refers to the legal instruments having been designed and used for the support of the EU
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National authorities may, in response to individual complaints, compel an airline to pay compensation to passengers (CJEU)

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According to recent Judgment of the European Court of Justice in Case C-597/20 /LOT (29.9.2022) the national authority responsible for the enforcement of the Air Passengers Rights Regulation may, in response to individual complaints, compel a carrier to pay compensation to passengers. That is the case provided that the Member State concerned has granted that body a power to that effect. Following a delay of more than three hours of their flight from New York to Budapest, a number of passengers brought the matter before the Hungarian authority responsible for the enforcement of the Air Passengers Right Regulation asking it to order LOT, the air carrier concerned, to pay them the compensation provided for in that regulation. Indeed, that authority found that the regulation had been infringed and ordered LOT to pay compensation in the amount of EUR 600 to each passenger concerned.  Taking the view that the authority in question did not have the power to order the payment of such compensat
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Gender gap in the legal profession: IBA's Women Lawyers' Committee: Mentorship Toolkit

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The International Bar Association (IBA) has launched the  Women Lawyers' Committee: Mentorship Toolkit  (the Toolkit) with the aim of empowering female legal professionals and addressing the gender representation gap at senior levels.  With global organisations revealing the business case to address gender disparity, the Toolkit is launched into an environment where there has been an increased focus and shift in perspective on gender equality. Closing the gap is now recognised not just as ‘the right thing to do’, but also ‘the smart thing to do’. Research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that gender disparity in world societies and labour markets has a US$12tn impact on the global economy. This is equivalent to 16 per cent of global gross domestic product. Furthermore, media reports have revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a greater negative impact on working women than men; women have disproportionately lost jobs and faced a redu
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Unlawful dismissal at work: France violates European Social Charter

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In a  decision  made public on 26.9.2022, the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe (ECSR) considers that the upper limit on the compensation that can be awarded to workers in France in the event of unlawful dismissal constitutes a “violation” of the European Social Charter (Article 24b). In their complaints (Nos.  160/2018  and  171/2018 ), the CGT-FO and the CGT asked the ECSR to find that the reforms to the French Labour Code introduced by Order No. 2017-1387 of 22 September 2017 were in breach of Article 24 of the Charter (the right to protection in cases of termination of employment) on the ground that they laid down an upper limit on the amount of compensation in the event of dismissal without valid reasons. Both organisations asserted that this meant that victims of unjustified dismissals were unable to obtain compensation through the domestic courts that was adequate in relation to the damage incurred and dissuasive for employers, and that the reform fa
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23 states requested to intervene as 3rd parties in the ECtHR proceedings in the case of Ukraine v.Russia

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23 Governments and one non-governmental organisation, the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, have requested leave to intervene as third parties in the proceedings concerning the case of Ukraine v. Russia (X) (application no. 11055/22).  This inter-State case concerns the Ukrainian Government’s allegations of mass and gross humanrights violations committed by the Russian Federation in its military operations on the territory of Ukraine since 24 February 2022.  The requesting Governments are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The Court will examine and decide on these requests in due course. Iceland and the United Kingdom have requested and been granted a short extension of the timelimit to request leave to intervene as a third party. The President of the Court may,
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Non-transposition of EU legislation: Commission takes action to ensure complete and timely transposition of EU directives

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The European Commission is adopting a package of infringement decisions due to the absence of communication by Member States of measures taken to transpose EU directives into national law (referred to as ‘non-communication infringements').  The Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to those Member States who have failed to notify national measures transposing directives.  In this case, there are 24 Member States who have not yet notified full transposition measures for 10 EU directives whose transposition deadline expired between 1st July and 31st August 2022. Member States concerned now have two months to reply to the letters of formal notice and complete their transposition, or the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion. Workers' rights: Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions The  Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions  provides more extensive and updated labour rights and protection to the 182 m
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Madeleine McCann’s disappearance: ECtHR rejected her parents' application for defamation case against a Portuguese detective

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In Chamber's judgment (20.9.2022) in the case of McCann and Healy v. Portugal (application no. 57195/17) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.  The case concerned statements made by a former detective inspector – in a book, a documentary and a newspaper interview – about the applicants’ alleged involvement in the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine McCann, who went missing on 3 May 2007 in southern Portugal.  Before the Court, the applicants alleged that there had been a violation of their right to reputation and to their right to be presumed innocent.  The Court considered that, even assuming that the applicants’ reputation had been damaged, this was not on account of the argument put forward by the book’s author but rather as a result of the suspicions expressed against them, which had led to their being placed under inves
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Vacancy: Lawyer in the Legal Services unit of the Boards of Appeal in the European Patent Office

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The European Patent Office in Munich, Germany wishes to recruit a Lawyer in the Legal Services unit of the Boards of Appeal (INT/EXT /20593)  Grade: G7-G10 (net (basic) monthly salary for this vacancy: EUR 5 911 to 8 372) Duration of appointment: Five years Application deadline: 12 October 2022 The Boards of Appeal (BoA) are the final judicial instance in proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO). Their task is to review decisions taken by the EPO's administrative divisions. The members of the BoA are independent in their decisions and are bound only by the European Patent Convention. Legal Services provide the BoA with legal support, disseminate information on the BoA case law and provide legal advice and support to the President of the BoA on patent law-related questions and institutional matters. The successful candidate will be selected on the basis of qualifications and relevant experience, supplemented as appropriate by interviews, tests and/or a persona
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Vacancy in UNICEF: Legal Affairs Specialist, Copenhagen

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Vacancy in UNICEF: Legal Affairs Specialist, P-3, Office of Executive Director, Copenhagen. The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action.  Under the overall guidance of the Chief of Section and direct supervision of one of the Legal Affairs Specialist (P4), the Legal Affairs Specialist will provide guidance and advice on institutional and commercial procurement, donor agreements and contracts related to programme support and project implementation to ensure adherence to organizational financial, procurement, contracting and legal policies, rules and procedures; and to ensure that the organization is protected from legal exposure. To qualify as an advocate for every child you will must have a minimum of a post-gra
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International Criminal Court terminates proceedings against Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled following notification of his death

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On 7th September 2022, Pre-trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) terminated proceedings against the alleged former Lieutenant General of the Libyan army and former head of the Libyan Internal Security Agency, Mr Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled.  The Chamber made this decision following the Prosecution’s Notification of the Death of Al-Tuhamy and request to withdraw arrest warrant, dated 2 August 2022 and annexing a copy of a death certificate issued by the Libyan authorities and an official translation. In light of the Prosecution’s submissions, the Chamber considered that the certificate sufficed to render the warrant of arrest without effect. Outstanding requests for arrest and surrender made to any States will accordingly be withdrawn. Background: The Warrant of Arrest for Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled was issued under seal on 18 April 2013 and unsealed on 24 April 2017. He was suspected of four crimes against humanity: imprisonment, torture, persecution, and other inhum
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