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By Christina Poursanidou, Lawyer Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are considered as high-risk individuals for financial institutions and obliged entities, which justifies the application of additional Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) preventive measures with respect to business relationships with them. But who is considered as a PEP and why being a PEP poses a risk? The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has defined a PEP as an individual who is or has been entrusted with a prominent public function, while the Article 3 par. 9 of the 4th EU AML Directive (AMLD) repeats the definition of the FATF and provides a list of particular political positions, which make somebody a PEP. It is crucial to note that both FATF and EU have included in the scope of PEPs, the family members and close associates of PEPs, which means that not only the persons with have been entrusted with prominent public function are considered as high-risk, but also their family member

The representatives of the governments of the member states appointed on 19.2.2021 four judges and an advocate-general to the Court of Justice and a judge to the General Court. Court of Justice The nominations are part of the partial renewal of the composition of the Court of Justice, since the terms of office of 14 judges and 6 advocates‑general will expire on 6 October 2021.  Mr Miroslav Gavalec (Slovakia) and Ms Octavia Spineanu-Matei (Romania) have been appointed judges to the Court of Justice for a first term of office. The terms of office of Mr Niilo Jääskinen (Finland) and Mr Lars Bay Larsen (Denmark) as judges of the Court of Justice have been renewed. The term of office of Ms Juliane Kokott (Germany) as advocate-general of the Court of Justice has been renewed. The four judges and the advocate-general of the Court of Justice have been appointed for a term of office starting on 7 October 2021 and expiring on 6 October 2027. The appointing decision will enter into

The University of Cologne is one of the largest and most research-intensive universities in Germany, offering a wide range of subjects. With its six faculties and its interfaculty centres, it offers a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines and internationally outstanding profile areas, supported by the administration with its services. The Academy for European Human Rights Protection, which is currently being established under the direction of Prof. Dr. Dres. Angelika Nußberger M.A., invites applications for 6 positions for PhD students at the Academy for European Rights Protection. The position is available at the earliest possible date on a part time basis (19,92 hours per week/50%). It is limited to a term of two years. If the applicant meets the relevant wage requirements and personal qualifications, the salary is based on remuneration group 13 TV-L of the pay scale for the German public sector. Online applications until February 28, 2021 More information at  academicposi

Aleksey Navalnyy’s current application before the Court was lodged on 20 January 2021 under Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights. On the same date the applicant made a request to the Court under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court related to his detention, asking for his release.  On 21 January 2021, the Court decided to suspend the examination of the Rule 39 request until receipt of the following information from the Government:  1. In view of the arguable allegation of a near-lethal attack on the applicant in August 2020 with the use of chemical nerve agent, and the fact that the perpetrators had not been established by the Russian authorities, did the risk to the applicant’s life persist?  2. If so, what measures were being taken by the Russian authorities to safeguard his life and wellbeing, in particular while in custody?  3. Furthermore, were the conditions of detention and the treatment of the applicant subject to regular independent monitoring in line with European s

International Committee of the Red Cross, based in Geneva, Switzerland is seeking to recruit a Thematic Legal Adviser. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works worldwide to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict and armed violence. It takes action in response to emergencies and at the same time promote respect for international humanitarian law. It is an independent and neutral organization, and its mandate stems essentially from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. ICRC works closely with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and with their International Federation in order to ensure a concerted, rational and rapid humanitarian response to the needs of the victims of armed conflict or any other situation of internal violence. It directs and coordinates the international activities conducted in these situations. The main role of the Unit of the Thematic Legal Advisers, which is part of the Legal Division, is to contribute to the role of t

The document "The ECHR in facts and figures 2020" has been published on the Court’s website. Αccording to the report, approximately 62,000 applications were pending before a judicial formation of ECHR at 31 December 2020. Neerly a quarter of these applications had been lodged against the Russian Federation. The number of applications allocated to a judicial formation in 2020 exceeded the number disposed of judicially during the year. Almost half the judgments concerned 3 of the 47 member States, namely the Russian Federation (185), Turkey (97) and Ukraine (86). Nearly a quarter of all the judgments delivered by the Court concerned the Russian Federation. Of the total number of judgments delivered in 2020, the Court found at least one violation of the Convention by the respondent State in 87% of the cases. Since the Court was established in 1959, the Court has delivered 23,406 judgments. More than a third of them have concerned 3 member States: Turkey (3,742), the Russian Fede

The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce has released updates to its Note to Parties and Arbitral Tribunals on the Conduct of Arbitration under the ICC Rules of Arbitration, effective 1 January 2021. Last updated in 2019, the  Note  provides parties and arbitral tribunals with practical guidance concerning the conduct of arbitrations under the ICC Rules and summarises the practices of the ICC Court. The updates were discussed by the Bureau of the ICC Court, further to proposals made by ICC Court President Alexis Mourre and the ICC Court Secretariat. Mr Mourre said: “Consistent with the  2021 ICC Arbitration Rules  and our evolving practices, the updated Note reflects the Court’s continuous efforts to increase the efficiency of ICC arbitrations, provide further transparency and offer excellent services to our users around the world”. The salient points of the updated Note are as follows: a. The Note reflects a number of practice points aris

The Arrested Lawyers Initiative published the fifth edition of its report named ‘Mass Prosecution of Lawyers in Turkey‘. According to the latest version of the report, since 2016’s coup attempt more than 1600 lawyers have been arrested and prosecuted while 615 lawyers have been remanded to pretrial detention. So far, 450 lawyers have been sentenced to a total of 2786 years in prison on the grounds of membership of an armed terrorism organization or of spreading terrorist propaganda.  15 of the persecuted lawyers are presidents (or former presidents) of their respective provincial bar associations. Report presents that all of the persecuted lawyers are being charged with terror-linked offenses; the two main accusations imputed to them are membership of an armed terrorist organisation, and forming and leading an armed terrorist organisation. Lawyers have particularly been targeted due to the identity or affinity of their clients. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rig

By Efi Thoma, Senior Legal Advisor One of the most fundamental EU principles is safeguarding a healthy work-life balance. EU law and specifically the pertinent directive on working hours, is based on the doctrine that work environment is being regulated in order to ensure that employees work maximum 48 working hours per week , enjoy minimum 11 consecutive hours of daily rest , and a t least 4   weeks paid annual leave per year . The new working conditions adopted in Europe and around the globe in the direct aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak have focused on remote working for the majority of the employees. However, teleworking has never been so popular before and used at such extensive levels. Recent research has shown that 27% of people who work from home worked outside working hours , and employees who regularly telework are more than twice as likely to work more than the maximum working hours set down in the EU’s working time directive than those who don’t , resulting

By Christina Poursanidou, Lawyer Money laundering scandals during the last years have created much uncertainty about the effectiveness of the EU-Anti-Money Laundering Directives (AMLDs) and the presumption that transparency over the companies structure will lead to the the prevention of future similar cases. Despite the fact that World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as Financial Action Task Force (FATF) were discussing the need of bringing to light the companies’ ultimate beneficial owners, the EU legislators made the creation of the Register of the Beneficial Ownership of legal entities mandatory for each Member State. More specifically, according to the Article 30 of the 4th AMLD “Member States shall ensure that corporate and other legal entities incorporated within their territory are required to obtain and hold adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial ownership, including the details of the beneficial interests held.” Similarly, in order to

On 10 February 2021, the Criminal Asset Bureau of the Irish National Police (An Garda Síochána) took action against a criminal gang suspected of large-scale money laundering.  Fund transfers in excess of €4 million were identified from other jurisdictions to Irish bank accounts linked to members of this criminal network. The gang is believed to have made this money from illegal activity across Europe.  The search operation in the cities of Tipperary and Kilkenny involved searches of 4 residential properties and 1 business premises, as a result of which €100 000 in cash and a car worth €75 000 were seized. A total of 16 bank accounts linked to members of the crime group were also frozen. The accounts contained cumulative funds of €540,000.  Such results were made possible thanks to the model of non-conviction based forfeiture operated by the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau. In this case, Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) pieced together the intelligence provide

The share of children among detected trafficking victims has tripled while the share of boys has increased five times in the past 15 years. Girls are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation, while boys are used for forced labour, according to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on 2.2.2021. In 2018 about 50,000 human trafficking victims were detected and reported by 148 countries. However, given the hidden nature of this crime, the actual number of victims trafficked is far higher. The Report shows traffickers particularly target the most vulnerable, such as migrants and people without jobs. The COVID-19-induced recession is likely to expose more people to the risk of trafficking. “ Millions of women, children and men worldwide are out of work, out of school and without social support in the continuing COVID-19 crisis, leaving them at greater risk of human trafficking. We need targeted action to stop crimin

In its Judgment in Joined Cases C-422/19 and C-423/19 (Johannes Dietrich and Norbert Häring v Hessischer Rundfunk) the European Court of Justice ruled that a euro area Member State can oblige its administration to accept payments in cash, but can also limit that payment option on public interest grounds. Such a limitation may in particular be justified where payment in cash is likely to involve the administration in unreasonable expense because of the very high number of persons liable to pay. Two German citizens who were liable to pay a radio and television licence fee in the Land of Hesse (Germany) offered to pay it to Hessischer Rundfunk (Hesse’s broadcasting body) in cash. Invoking its regulations on the procedure for payment of radio and television licence fees, which preclude any possibility of paying the licence fee in cash, [1] Hessischer Rundfunk refused their offer and sent them payment notices. The two German citizens brought an action against those payment notices and th

In ECtHR  judgment in the case of Ramazan Demir v. Turkey (application no. 68550/17) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression: freedom to receive information and ideas) of the European Convention on Human Rights.  The case concerned the prison authorities’ refusal to grant a request for access to certain Internet sites, lodged by Mr Demir in the course of his pre-trial detention in Silivri Prison in 2016. Mr Demir, a lawyer, wished to access the Internet sites of the European Court of Human Rights, the Constitutional Court and the Official Gazette, with a view to preparing his own defence and following his clients’ cases.  The Court considered that since prisoners’ access to certain sites containing legal information had already been granted under Turkish law for the purposes of training and rehabilitation, the restriction of Mr Demir’s access to the above-mentioned sites, which contained only legal infor

Facial recognition is the automatic processing of digital images containing individuals' faces for identification or verification of those individuals by using face templates. The uses of this technology are many and varied, some of which may seriously infringe the rights of data subjects. For example, integrating facial recognition technologies to existing surveillance systems poses a serious risk to the rights to privacy and protection of personal data as well as to other fundamental rights since the uses of these technologies do not always require the awareness or cooperation of the individuals whose biometric data is processed, considering for instance the possibility of accessing digital images of individuals on the Internet. On 28 January 2021, the  Committee of Convention 108  has adopted  Guidelines on facial recognition  that provide a set of reference measures that governments, facial recognition developers, manufacturers, service providers and entities using facial rec