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  • Parliamentary Assembly Joint Informal Body: Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    A joint informal body of members of the European Parliament and Council of Europe parliamentarians has welcomed the prospect of talks resuming on EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).


    Last week the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to pursue negotiations with the European Union with a view to finalising the legal instruments setting out the modalities of accession. The high-level political negotiations stalled in the Autumn of 2011 after the completion of most of the technical work on accession.

  • European Commission: 2012 Report on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    On 8 May, the European Commission released its 2012 report on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The report examines the action taken by the EU in 2012 to implement the Charter's rights in EU legislation and to ensure that this is in compliance with the Charter. It also reports on the impact of the Charter on the external action of the EU and on the most relevant cases of the Court of Justice concerning the Charter.

  • CJEU : AG Opinion in X, Y, Z v. Minister voor Immigratie, Integratie en Asiel (Joined Cases C-199/12, C-200/12 & C-201/12) [Arts. 9 & 10(1)(d), Qualification Directive]

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    In a case involving three homosexual men seeking refugee status in the Netherlands who come from countries where homosexual acts are criminal offences (Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Senegal) the national court raised three questions concerning the assessment of applications for refugee status under the provisions of Chapter III of Council Directive 2004/83/EC (‘the Directive’).  First, do third country nationals who are homosexual form a particular social group within the meaning of Article 10(1)(d) of the Directive?

  • EASO newsletter: a new approach to country of origin information

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    EASO's newsletter for March 2013 contains a section on a new proposal aimed at linking EASO's different COI-related activities into one coherent structure entitled "EASO COI Network approach". The proposal comprises the creation of a Strategic COI Network composed of COI heads of units or experts from the Member States, associated countries, the EU Commission and UNHCR which would discuss issues at a strategic level, and the setting up of specific expert networks on specific countries, regions or themes to exchange information and harmonize COI practices.

  • Schengen Information System (SIS II) enters into force

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    The Schengen Information System allows competent authorities to issue and consult alerts on persons who may have been involved in serious crime or may not have the right to enter or stay in the EU. It will also contain information on missing persons or certain objects such as firearms or stolen vehicles. The data concerning persons include all the data necessary to confirm their identity including picture and fingerprints, as well as relevant information about the alert and the action to be taken.

  • Greece toughens its detention law for asylum seekers to a maximum of 18 months

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    From now on, asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application in Greece might be detained for up to 18 months. The provisions governing the maximum length of time by which asylum seekers' detention can be extended have recently been changed.

  • Red Cross: Position paper on legal avenues and access to international protection in the EU

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    In its latest position paper, the Red Cross EU office has released a position paper calling on the EU and its member states to ensure that asylum seekers have safe and effective legal avenues to the EU territory to exercise their right to international protection. The paper puts forward nine recommendations aimed at ensuring access to asylum procedures, particularly by respecting refugee and human rights standards at the borders, not penalising the irregular entry of asylum seekers and ensuring an effective right of appeal against denial of entry.

  • Ahmade v. Greece (no. 50520/09) [Articles 3, 5 and 13]

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    The applicant, Seydmajed Ahmade, is an Afghan national who lives in Athens (Greece). Mr Ahmade arrived in Greece on 23 December 2007. He was arrested several times between then and 11 August 2008 and each time various removal decisions were taken against him. Following a fight, the applicant was arrested again on 27 August 2009. His removal was ordered once again and he was held at the police station on the ground that he posed a threat to public order and was likely to abscond on account of the criminal proceedings against him concerning the fight.

  • Makhmudzhan Ergashev v. Russia (no. 49747/11) [Article 3 ECHR]

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    The applicant, Makhmudzhan Ergashev, is a Kyrgyzstani national who has been living in St Petersburg (Russia) since July 2006. He is an ethnic Uzbek and lived in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan before he left for Russia. In 2007, criminal proceedings were brought against Mr Ergashev in Kyrgyzstan on suspicion of embezzlement of State funds, allegedly committed in 2006-07. He was charged in absentia, declared a wanted person and an order for him to be remanded in custody was issued. In August 2010, he was arrested in Russia and detained with a view to his extradition.

  • EUROSUR: agreement between Council and Parliament

    Date: 
    Friday, October 4, 2013

    The Council and the Parliament have reached an agreement on the EUROSUR regulation. This agreement will be formally adopted by the Parliament in September and later on by the Council. EUROSUR will establish a mechanism that will allow border surveillance authorities to share operational information among themselves and with FRONTEX in order to reduce the number of irregular immigrants entering the EU undetected. The regulation will apply to the surveillance of land and sea external borders.

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