Europe’s Gender Recognition Tug-of-War Continues in Germany – Part 1: The Law as it Stands
Germany may soon close a troubled chapter on its legal provision for gender recognition, ending the decades-long reign of the 1980 Law on Transsexuals (Transsexuellengesetz or TSG), in favour of...
Italy’s “Hard Prison”Regime and its Human Rights Implications
The case of Alfredo Cospito, an anarchist who remained on a “41-bis” detention regime despite a 6-month long hunger strike, has reignited the debate on the compatibility of the Italian...
Maymulakhin and Markiv v Ukraine: Perspectives on Same-Sex Relations in Ukraine in Light of the European Court of Human Rights’ Decision
Since the publication of our previous blog post about perspectives on same-sex marriage legalization in Ukraine, an online petition about this issue, submitted to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has received...
Semenya v Switzerland: Divided ECtHR Significantly Advances the Human Rights Protection for Intersex Athletes (and all professional sportspeople in general) – Part II
Part I of this blog (available here) discussed the facts of the case and laid down the jurisdiction issue. Part II continues the discussion on procedural view and elaborates on...
Semenya v Switzerland: Divided ECtHR Significantly Advances the Human Rights Protection for Intersex Athletes (and all professional sportspeople in general) – Part I
Should women with variations of sex characteristics be excluded from professional women’s sports competitions? In recent years, this question has spurred considerable controversy around the globe. In July 2023, the...
Safi and Others and the Council of Europe’s role in preventing further tragedies off the Greek shores
In June 2023 a boat carrying migrants sank near Pylos (Greece), causing 300-650 deaths. The investigation into the incident is ongoing and, because of the interest that the country’s highest...
Over-compensation by the European Court? A Proposal for Reforming Compensation Awards
In light of the Malkinson case, questions are being asked about why successful appellants in the criminal court should have to prove their innocence in a separate process to claim...
Figel’ v Slovakia: Potential landmark ECtHR decision on COVID-19 related restrictions to religious freedom
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a period of unprecedented restrictions to fundamental rights, unthinkable no less than five years ago: freedom of movement, assembly, and expression, and the right to private...
OxHRH Publishes Workbook on the Right to Education
The Oxford Human Rights Hub has published its first Human Rights Workbook on the topic of the Right to Education. The OxHRH Workbook is designed to provide an introduction to...
The UK Bill of Rights: Changes to Human Rights Protection may Impact Climate Litigation
Across the world, human rights-based arguments are increasingly deployed in climate litigation against public bodies. However, in the UK, potential reforms to the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) – an...
Moraru v Romania: ECtHR Protects Against Size-based Discrimination
In November 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that height and weight requirements for participation in the entrance examination for a programme of military medicine violate Article 14...
What’s next in Climate Litigation before the European Court of Human Rights? Duarte Agostinho and Others v Portugal and 32 other States
On 29 March 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) heard its first two climate cases (Verein Klima Seniorinnen and Others v Switzerland and Carême v France). Meanwhile, another...
