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

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Landmark Murder Conviction for Illegal Street Racing in Germany

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Following a fatal illegal street race in Ludwigsburg in March 2025, the Stuttgart District Court (LG Stuttgart) has issued a landmark ruling. The primary defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, while his brother received 13 years for attempted murder. The race resulted in the deaths of two innocent young women when their vehicle was rammed at speeds exceeding 130 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. Intent vs. Negligence The core of the legal debate centered on the definition of intent. The defense argued for "negligent homicide," claiming the defendants never intended to kill anyone. The court applied the principle of eventual intent (dolus eventualis). It ruled that by racing at extreme speeds in a residential area, the defendants recognized the life-threatening danger and "accepted" the possibility of a fatal outcome in pursuit of the thrill of the race. The ruling utilizes Section 315d of the German Criminal Code (StGB), known as the "Raserparag...
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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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Cyprus Family Law: Spouse's claim for contribution in post-marital acquisitions

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by Giorgos Kazoleas, Lawyer* The regulation of property issues between spouses after divorce or separation is one of the main problems and is most commonly related with the issue of the contribution of one spouse to the increase in the other’s property. According to Cypriot Family Law, in the event that the marriage is dissolved or annulled, or in the event of separation of the spouses, in case the property of one spouse has increased, the other spouse, if he/she contributed in any way to this increase, is entitled to bring an action before the Court and demand the return of the part of the increase that comes from his/her own contribution.[1] The contribution of one spouse to the increase in the property of the other is presumed to amount to one third of the increase, unless a greater or lesser contribution is proven.[2] “Contribution” means any form of contribution by the spouses to the acquisition or creation of property and includes the care of the family home and family memb...
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Annual Report on the execution of the European Court's judgments and decisions

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The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, has called for further efforts to implement judgments from the European Court of Human Rights. Commenting on the  annual report for 2024  on the execution of the Court’s rulings, published today, the Secretary General said: “ This report shows what a concrete, positive impact judgments from the European Court of Human Rights have on the daily lives of the people of Europe. While a lot has been achieved, more needs to be done. The efficient execution of the Court's judgments is essential for the rule of law and democratic accountability in Europe .” The annual report from the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers shows that 992 cases were transferred from the European Court of Human Rights to Committee, which supervises their implementation by member states, in 2024. Of those 992 new cases, 194 were “leading” cases – often requiring action to be taken by states to prevent the same violations happ...
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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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Harassment During Job Interviews Under Cyprus Law

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By Giorgos Kazoleas, LL.M., Lawyer, Managing Partner at Legal Experts Cyprus Harassment or bullying during a job interview can now legally be considered workplace harassment. This is explicitly provided for in recent Cypriot legislation regarding workplace harassment, which widens the scope of application to include candidates for employment. The Legal Framework in Cyprus: Law 42(I)/2025 Law 42(I)/2025 (The Prevention and Combating of Violence and Harassment at Work Law), which came into force on April 11, 2025, explicitly extends protection against harassment and violence to the recruitment process and employment negotiations before a contract is signed. According to the interpretation of terms in Article 2 of the Law, the definition of an "employee" includes, among others, a person: "Whose employment relationship has not yet begun, in cases where the violation of the provisions of this Law has been committed during the recruitment process or at another stage of...
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Prison overcrowding remains a problem in Europe: Council of Europe’s annual penal statistics for 2023

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Prison overcrowding continues to be an acute and persistent problem in a significant number of European prison administrations, according to the Council of Europe’s Annual Penal Statistics on Prison Populations ( SPACE I ) for 2023. In countries with over 500,000 inhabitants, twelve prison administrations reported having more inmates than places available in January 2023. Overall, in Europe, the number of prisoners per 100 places available grew by 2% from 31 January 2022 to 31 January 2023 (from 91.7 to 93.5 inmates). Seven prison administrations reported a prison density of more than 105 inmates per 100 places available, indicating severe overcrowding: Cyprus (166 inmates per 100 places), Romania (120), France (119), Belgium (115), Hungary (112), Italy (109) and Slovenia (107). Five prison administrations reported very high prison density: Greece (103), Sweden (102), North Macedonia (101), Croatia (101) and Türkiye (100). Other administrations reported a prison density...
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