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In Chamber judgment (8.12.2020) in the case of Victor Rotaru v. the Republic of Moldova (application no. 26764/12) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 (freedom of movement) to the European Convention on Human Rights.  The case concerned the domestic authorities’ refusal over several years to issue the applicant with a passport, on the grounds that he had failed to repay a debt owed to a bank. The Court noted that the civil-registration authority had refused to issue the applicant with a passport after finding that the sole condition imposed by law had been met, namely the nonrepayment of a debt. The duration of the ban on obtaining a passport had not been specified and it did not appear that the proportionality of the measure had been reviewed at any stage. The domestic legislation, as applied in the present case, had not provided the applicant with sufficient procedural guarantees to prevent the risk ...

In its decision in the case of Le Mailloux v. France (application no. 18108/20) the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously declared the application inadmissible. The case concerned the applicant’s objections to the handling by the French State of the Covid-19 health crisis. The Court observed that the applicant was complaining about the measures taken by the French State to curb the propagation of the Covid-19 virus among the whole population of France, but had not shown how he was personally affected. It reiterated that it did not recognise an actio popularis: meaning that applicants cannot complain about a provision of domestic law, a domestic practice or public acts simply because they appear to contravene the European Convention on Human Rights. In order for applicants to be able to claim to be a victim, they must produce reasonable and convincing evidence of the likelihood that a violation affecting them personally will occur. Relying on Article 2 (right to life...

By Christina Poursanidou, Lawyer/Legal and Compliance Officer  Ten days before the end of the United Kingdom (UK) transition period to leave the European Union (EU), there is still uncertainty on whether the two sides will agree on a trade deal agreement. During the transition period the UK continue to apply the EU Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directives, but from 1st of January 2021 new challenges and concerns for the global effort against money laundering appear. With this article, we will set out the impact of Brexit to the fight against money laundering both for the UK and to EU countries. United Kingdom is historically considered as one of the countries with the strictest AML laws. If it exits the EU without a trade deal, the UK Government has to decide whether it will continue to apply the EU Directives or not. Even from January 2020, the 5th AML Directive (5AMLD) came into force in the UK, while the majority of the provisions of the 6th AML Directive (6AMLD) are already inc...

The Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has published a new factsheet focusing on cases related to the independence and impartiality of the judicial system. The factsheet summarises measures reported by 21 member states to safeguard and reinforce the independence and impartiality of their national judicial systems in response to ECHR judgments concerning the right to a fair trial. It includes a section on the independence and impartiality of prosecutors, which form an integral part of European judicial systems. This is the fifth in a series of  thematic factsheets  on the implementation of ECHR judgments. Previous examples cover constitutional matters, effective investigations into death or ill-treatment caused by the security forces, freedom of religion and the environment. Some of the factsheets are available in other languages in addition to English and French. (coe.int) The factsheet "INDEPENDENCE AND IMPA...

By George Kazoleas, Lawyer LL.M. The digitization of justice and the increasing use of forms of e-justice by legal systems is not only a reality but also a necessity that arose from the unprecedented conditions created and continues to create the covid-19 pandemic. An admittedly more advanced area of digitalisation of justice is artificial intelligence in judicial systems, which, as many experts predict, is the sure future in the way justice is administered. Ιn this matter, the Council of EU [1]  notes that the deployment of artificial intelligence systems in the justice sector is already being researched and developed in the EU and that the practical implementation of such systems is already imminent in some Member States. The Council also notes that a sufficient level of digitalisation is also a prerequisite for the use of artificial intelligence applications. It is also emphasized, that artificial intelligence systems in the justice sector may in the future be capable of perform...

Marialena Tsirli, first female Registrar in the history of the European Court of Human Rights, elected on 7 September 2020 for a five-year term of office, was sworn in on 30 November 2020. Article 17 of the Rules of Court governs the Registrar’s functions. The Registrar has overall responsibility for both the administrative and the judicial activities of the Registry under the authority of the President of the Court. Marialena Tsirli succeeded Roderick Liddell, who has been Registrar of the Court since 1 December 2015. A Greek national, born in 1967 in Thessaloniki, Marialena Tsirli studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and holds a master’s degree and a doctorate from the Robert Schuman University of Strasbourg. She was legal officer (1994-1998) in the Secretariat of the former European Commission of Human Rights. Within the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, she served successively as legal officer (1998-2004), Head of Division (2004-...

By Christina Poursanidou, Lawyer /  Legal and Compliance Officer  During 2019, the total number of fines imposed globally for violation of money laundering regulations was estimated to €370 million. Strangely enough, such fines did not worry bank CEOs and boards, which instead of improving their anti-money laundering (AML) procedures, keep on operating with insufficient due diligence standards, improper management of AML measures and   poor transaction monitoring. The result?   €600 million in AML monetary penalties within the first six months of 2020. Within the context of the European Union, during 2020 National Financial Supervisors have imposed heavy fines to a number of credit institutions, such as Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB , known as SEB   (€125 million), Deutsche Bank (€13.5 million), Commerzbank (€41 million) and Swedbank (€320 Million). These money laundering cases involving high-profile EU financial institutions have highlighted that the E...

In Chamber judgment in the case of Efstratiou and Others v. Greece (application no. 53221/14) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 6 (right to a fair trial / right of access to a court) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicants in this case considered that the refusal by the court of appeal and the Court of Cassation to take account of evidence which they considered as decisive for the outcome of the case had been excessively formalistic. Those courts had considered that the documents in question had not been presented to the court of appeal in accordance with the requirements of Article 240 of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure. The Court held, in particular, that the statement given by a witness for the applicants at the hearing before the court of appeal, had fairly accurately reflected the substance of the document (a sworn statement), which the court of appeal had dismissed on the grounds that it ha...

60 years ago, on 14 November 1960, the Court delivered its first judgment, Lawless v. Ireland, with René Cassin as its President. The judgment concerned preliminary objections and procedural questions regarding the application, on which a judgment on the merits was delivered the following year. Since its inauguration the Court has delivered 23,291 judgments on just over 51,650 applications. The case was filed by Gerard Richard Lawless, who had been an IRA member, although he claimed to have left the IRA. He was arrested on 11 July 1957, as he was about to travel to Great Britain from Ireland, and subsequently detained under the special powers of indefinite detention without trial under the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1940. The case was filed by Lawless for violation, by the Irish Government, of Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the European Convention of Human Rights, providing rights to liberty and security, fair trial and the principle of 'no pu...

Three persons have been sentenced to prison by the court of first instance (tribunal) in Genoa, Italy, as a judicial follow-up to an operation run by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the Italian Guardia di Finanza. The operation’s code-name was ‘Paper Castle’. Ended roughly two years ago, it had uncovered a fraud scheme that stretched over several EU Member States and involved a set of companies, some of which only existed on paper. €1.4 million were defrauded from EU funds intended to develop hovercraft prototypes – that is, emergency nautical vehicles able to reach remote areas in case of environmental accidents. Part of the money was used to pay the mortgage on an actual castle. Last month, two people were sentenced to several years of imprisonment for the fraud scheme. The accountant who had helped create a system of fictitious companies that went from Italy to London in the UK and to Delaware (U.S.) will also have to face jail, the court ruled. With the paper castle d...

In a new Opinion on “ The role ofassociations of judges in supporting judicial independence ”, the Council of Europe’s Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) calls upon member States to provide a framework within which the right of judges to associate can be effectively exercised, and to refrain from any interventions which might infringe the independence of the associations of judges. The CCJE notes that a great variety of judges’ associations exist in Europe, in relation to their aims, the size of their membership, and the qualifications for membership. However, a common feature for them all is that they are self-governing non-profit organisations whose most important and overarching objectives are to establish and defend the independence of judges, to safeguard their status and, to ensure adequate working conditions for judges. In this way, the associations help foster and improve the rule of law. The CCJE also notes that associations of judges should be closely i...

The European Convention on Human Rights, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, was the first instrument to crystallise and give binding effect to the rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  It lays down absolute rights which can never be breached by the States, such as the right to life or the prohibition of torture, and it protects certain rights and freedoms which can only be restricted by law when necessary in a democratic society, for example the right to liberty and security or the right to respect for private and family life. A number of rights have been added to the initial text with the adoption of additional protocols, concerning in particular the abolition of the death penalty, the protection of property, the right to free elections or freedom of movement. (ECHR) The updated text of the Convention is available here

By Christina Poursanidou, Lawyer The rapid and massive spread of the Covid-19 around the world had a dramatic effect on both global health and economy. At a time when governments were focusing on designing the most effective measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus and all other sectors have been suspended, financial crime and especially money laundering was "blooming". Despite the fact that both the European Commission and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) had warned competent authorities, credit institutions and other obliged entities of the increased volume of money laundering during similar crises in the past, the latter did not act accordingly. Ongoing criminal investigations in banks were suspended, many countries such as the United Kingdom have extended the deadlines for submitting Annual Company Accounts, while other have relaxed supervision, reporting deadlines and due diligence requirements. These decisions had as a result the lack of transpar...

Article By Paris Hadjipanayis, Lawyer The European Commission has recently issued a draft proposal [ https://ec.europa.eu/finance/docs/law/200924-crypto-assets-proposal_en.pdf ] for a potential and upcoming Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) with the purpose of creating a legal framework within the European Union in its effort to assert certainty by establishing uniform rules on crypto-assets service providers and issuers on EU level currently not covered under existing financial services legislation. The goal would be to surpass numerous challenges encountered by investors and Service Providers on a transnational level that may be limited by limitations presented by different requirements for transparency and disclosure in relation to issuance and offering purposes imposed on crypto-assets by domestic legislation by each Member State. The proposed Regulation is divided in seven titles. Among the provisions which set up the sub...

The European Court of Human Rights received on 28.9.2020 a request for interim measure lodged by Armenia against Azerbaijan, in which the Armenian Government requested the Court to indicate to the Azerbaijani Government, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court (interim measures) , as follows:          “to cease the military attacks towards the civilian settlements along the entire line of contact of the armed forces of Armenia and Artsakh;            to stop indiscriminate attacks;            to stop targeting civilian population, civilian objects and settlements.” The request was lodged under the application number 42521/20 and is currently being examined. Under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, the Court may indicate interim measures to any State Party to the European Convention on Human Rights. Interim measures are urgent measures which, according to the Court’s well-established practice, apply only...

By George Kazoleas, Lawyer, Director at Legalpost.eu It is well known that employees resign not because of their job, but because of their boss. According to a recent survey, half of the employees who quit their jobs did so to escape from their bosses, while in another survey this percentage was 75%. Evaluating the research data, it is concluded that the employees who leave their jobs are useful employees, good employees, those who value themselves and their abilities and consider that they deserve better behavior and treatment from their superiors or that they deserve more opportunities and more active participation in the activity of the company. Data is similar for legal professionals working in law firms. Looking at publications and studies, one easily realizes that the younger mainly lawyers become a systematic target of bad behavior of their employers-lawyers. In fact, the bad behavior that goes as far as verbal abuse and moral harassment, has prevailed to be considered as pa...

The Court of Justice dismissed the appeals brought by EUIPO and a Spanish company against the judgment of the General Court authorising football player Lionel Messi to register the trade mark ‘MESSI’ for sports equipment and clothing In August 2011, the footballer Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for registration of a figurative sign as an EU trade mark, inter alia for sports and gymnastics clothing, footwear and equipment.   In November 2011, Mr Jaime Masferrer Coma filed a notice of opposition to the registration of the mark applied for by Mr Messi Cuccittini, alleging a likelihood of confusion with the EU word marks MASSI, registered, inter alia, for clothing, footwear, cycling helmets, protective clothing and gloves (the rights to those marks were transferred in May 2012 to the Spanish company J.M.-E.V. e hijos). [1] In 2013, EUIPO upheld the opposition. Mr Messi Cuccittini lodged an appeal wi...

Through the new “alternative bar associations” legislation and President Erdogan’s own words “Those who act as the lawyers of terrorists may not act like terrorists themselves. If they do so, there must be a price to pay”, which he said in the presence of judges and prosecutors in the new judicial year opening ceremony, the Turkish government had already signaled that a new phase in the persecution of lawyers was about to start. Only a few days after President Erdogan’s speech, today (11 September 2020), the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor has ordered the arrest of 48 lawyers, 7 trainee lawyers, 4 purged judges and a law graduate, for being “members of a terrorist organisation” According to the report of the state-run Anatolian News Agency, their arrests were sought for no other offence than representing those whom the government considered dissidents and who were accused of being involved in “terrorism”. The arrested lawyers were not to be allowed a conference with anybody and woul...

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) contributes to the ongoing debate on the Reform of the judicial framework of the Court of Justice of the European Union by adopting comments on the efficiency of the General Court, the necessity and effectiveness of the increase to 54 Judges, and the further establishment of specialised chambers and/or other structural changes. The Reform process commenced in 2015 following a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council to double the number of judges at the General Court. The Court of Justice is currently preparing a report on the functioning of the General Court which is expected will be submitted to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission before the end of 2020. The CCBE underlines the importance of ensuring all litigants in the European Union may enjoy effective access to justice and quality of justice, as well as the handling of cases in a relatively short time. The CCBE acknowledges that it is a co...

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) is deeply shocked by the death of Turkish lawyer Ebru Timtik on 27 August after a 238 days hunger strike. Lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal, respectively sentenced to 13 and 6 months and 11 years and 6 months in prison, decided to go on an unlimited hunger strike to denounce their unfair trial as well as the unfair trial of several dozens of Turkish lawyers. ( Read more here ) Since 2017, several Turkish lawyers belonging to the Progressive Lawyers Association and the People's Law Office, among which Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal, have been victims of judicial harassment. These lawyers who have fought for Justice and the Rule of Law have defended, among others, persons considered to be opponents of the Turkish government, families of miners massacred in Soma and Ermenek, populations expelled from their homes as victims of urban transformation, families of citizens killed under torture in police stations and prisons as well as...