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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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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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The Delivery Delay Clause in Residential Construction Contracts: Consumer Protection in Cyprus and Europe

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By Giorgos Kazoleas, LL.M., Lawyer, Managing Partner at Legal Experts Cyprus The purchase or construction of a new residence is one of the most significant financial and personal decisions a consumer can make. Residential construction contracts or agreements for the sale of property under construction are a crucial and defining element of the entire process, as certain terms they may contain can be detrimental to the buyer. One of the most critical aspects is the contractual delivery time of the project and the provision for delay, through the so-called delivery delay clause. The Delivery Delay Clause: Its Role and Legal Nature The delivery delay clause (also known as a penalty clause in the event of default) is a term usually included in the contract that specifies a predetermined compensation amount that the contractor or seller must pay to the buyer for every day, week, or month of delay beyond the agreed delivery date. The purpose of the clause is twofold: -Compensatory: ...
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Six new judges sworn in at the seat of the International Criminal Court

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Six new judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) were sworn on 8 March 2024, during a ceremony held at the seat of the Court in The Hague (Netherlands). During the Ceremony, participants also bid farewell to the six outgoing ICC judges ending their terms.  Judges Mr Keebong Paek (Republic of Korea), Mr Erdenebalsuren Damdin (Mongolia), Ms Iulia Motoc (Romania), Mr Haykel Ben Mahfoudh (Tunisia), Mr Nicolas Guillou (France) and Ms Beti Hohler (Slovenia) were elected for nine-year terms during the twenty-second session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute in December 2023.  The six new judges commenced their mandates on 11 March 2024 and will subsequently be called to full-time service on the basis of the workload of the Court. The six judges made a solemn undertaking in open court before the President of the ASP, H.E. Ms Päivi Kaukoranta, stating: "I solemnly undertake that I will perform my duties and exercise my powers as a judge of the Inter...
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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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The ECJ's videoconference system complies with data protection rules (EDPS)

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With its Schrems II-judgment of 16 July 2020, the Court of Justice declared invalid the EU-US Privacy Shield , governing the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States.  In the absence of this EU-US Privacy Shield, in February 2021 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), as an EU institution, referred its contract with its US-based videoconferencing operator to the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).  It asked the EDPS whether these rules complied with the EU’s data protection rules contained in the EU Data Protection Regulation . The EDPS issued two temporary authorisations, in 2021 and 2022, allowing the CJEU to use these contractual clauses. It adopted its final decision on 13 July 2023.  The EDPS has decided that the CJEU’s videoconferencing services meet the data protection standards under EU Data Protection Regulation. The CJEU is the first EU institution to obtain such approval from the EDPS. The main characteristics ...
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Processing of personal data: decisions taken by a supervisory authority in the context of the indirect exercise of the rights of the data subject are legally binding (ECJ)

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According to Judgment (16.11.2023) of the European Court of Justice in Case C-333/22 (Ligue des droits humains) as regards the processing of personal data, decisions taken by a supervisory authority in the context of the indirect exercise of the rights of the data subject are legally binding. A court must be able to verify the grounds and the evidence on which they are based.  A citizen requests the Belgian autorité nationale de sécurité (National Security Authority) to issue him, for professional purposes, security clearance. He is refused that document on the ground that he had participated in demonstrations. Relying on his right of access to his data, that citizen makes a request to the Organe de contrôle de l’information policière (the Supervisory Body for Police Information), which informs him that he has only indirect access and that it will itself verify the lawfulness of the processing of his data. However, at the end of that verification, as allowed under Belgian law, that...
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