The Fundamental Right Agency (FRA) together with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is launching a survey on women’s well-being and safety in Europe. The survey’s aim is to collect comprehensive data about domestic violence among 40,000 women who will be interviewed. The survey will focus not only on the experience of violence but also on the background (migration, minority, nationality) of the interviewees, as well as their disabilities. Posing those additional questions will help to identify the most vulnerable groups.

The FRA’s analysis is even more relevant in the context of the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence adopted on 7 April 2011. The FRA’s findings may serve as a trigger for a faster ratification and entry into force of the Convention.

The Convention is the first legally binding instrument in the world which creates a comprehensive legal framework for the prevention of violence, protection of victims and termination of the impunity of perpetrators. It defines and criminalizes various forms of violence against women (including forced marriage, female genital mutilation, stalking, physical and psychological violence and sexual violence). It also foresees the establishment of an international group of independent experts with the purpose of monitoring the implementation at a national level. The Convention is open for signature not only by the Council of Europe’s member states but also for the European Union and the states which are not members of these organizations. Despite its nature and being open to a large number of signatories, it has so far been signed only by 19 countries, which failed to ratify it. The Convention will enter into force only after its ratification by 10 signatories.

In order to promote the quick entry into force of the Convention, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe urged Albania, Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine for a speedy ratification. A number of countries, including Poland, have not ratified the Convention.

The FRA and EIGE survey may also convince some reluctant politicians, for example in Poland, of the urgent need to adopt comprehensive instruments against domestic violence. Despite the Polish Prime Minister’s declaration in February 2012 that Poland needed to sign and ratify the Council of Europe’s Convention, the Polish Minister of Justice Jarosław Gowin declined such a possibility. He claimed that the Convention was an expression of feminist ideology and thus threatened traditional family values.

The main source of controversy is the definition of “gender” included in the Convention.  “Gender” is defined as “the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men”. Minister Gowin’s objection was caused by this definition and by the duty to promote certain social attitudes implied by it. According to the Minister, the definition “is not coherent”. A lot of controversy was also raised by the obligation to educate about “non-stereotyped gender roles”. According to the Ministry of Justice, such education would undermine the Christian concept of dignity which is fundamental for the Polish Constitution. Advocating the “non-stereotyped gender roles” could be in conflict with the promotion of family values and maternity to which the authorities are obliged under article 18 of the Polish Constitution. The Ministry of Justice is also working on the amendment to the Polish Criminal Code that would make it possible to prosecute rape without the need for the victim’s complaint. Initially, this was the major argument which delayed the signature of the Convention by Poland.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the government would make the decision regarding the Convention in the upcoming months. Let’s hope that the findings of the FRA and EIGE survey will convince both Polish and other European officials to ratify the Convention. The official study may play an important part in that process, especially given that the member states do not often collect the statistics and the officials are reluctant to consider the ones gathered and presented by non-governmental organizations.

Dominika Bychawska-Siniarska and Joanna Smętek, “Europe of Human Rights”

Governments want to “amend” the European Convention on Human Rights. If the worst-case scenario comes true, it will undermine the integrity and authority of the European Court of Human Rights, and lead to the slow dismantling of the European system of human rights protection. The UK Chairmanship of the Council of Europe will hold a High Level Ministerial Conference on the Future of the European Court of Human Rights in Brighton from 18 to 20 April 2012, where the contracting parties will adopt the so-called “Brighton Declaration”. Civil society organizations have not been invited to take part in this event. (more…)

A few days ago, on the occasion of the new own-initiative report, the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) held a public hearing entitled “What is new on the alleged CIA illegal detention and transfers of prisoners in Europe?” The hearing showed that there was still a lot of resistance among member states to disclose information or investigate and settle allegations, but the truth is inevitably coming to the surface. In the absence of state delegations, the representatives of NGOs presented new developments and evidence with respect to CIA-led extraordinary renditions, the secret flights network and detention facilities.

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In the recent weeks Europe was shaken by the signature of ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). While Europe’s eyes are turned upon fighting with copyrights abuses, EU is proceeding with another agreement which might have a negative impact on human rights. On 13 December 2011 the Council has agreed to conclude the EU-US Passenger Name Record Agreement (“PNR”) enabling the transfer of air passengers’ data for flights from the EU to the US. The agreement has been designed in the scope of the EU and US fight against terrorism. (more…)

With the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty all Member States agreed that the EU should become a High Contracting Party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In light of this obligation it is alarming that the accession is currently being sidetracked by political objections from the UK and France. On 25 January 2012, Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the 47-nation Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament have urged national governments – notably the UK and France – not to stand in the way of the EU signing up to the European Convention on Human Rights.

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The week of 23 – 27 January was very important as far as human rights in Europe are concerned.

Effectiveness of the ECHR

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly had their weekly session. Parliamentarians started with the adoption of the report of the effectiveness of the European Convention of Human Rights protection system. The report has been prepared by Mrs. Marie-Louise Bemelmans-Videc, The Netherlands, Group of the European People’s Party. (more…)

On 25 January 2012 David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, gave a speech during the meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The speech was on one hand full of compassion over the raising backlog of cases pending before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), on the other hand it stressed the need to proceed with reforms. In his speech we can read that  “national governments ‘margin of appreciation’ – which allows for different interpretations of the Convention – has shrunk… and that not enough account is being taken of democratic decisions by national parliaments … All states agreed that the Court was, in some cases, too ready to substitute its judgment for that of reasonable national processes and all agreed that that was not its role. And when controversial rulings overshadow the good and patient long-term work that has been done, that not only fails to do justice to the work of the Court…”. (more…)

Websites of Polish authorities are under attack. The entire Internet community is outraged. There are plans of protests in the streets. A number of sites in a gesture of solidarity have scheduled blackouts. This is all in reaction to the news that on January 26 the Polish minister of foreign affairs will sign the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

NGOs found out about it last Thursday. Quickly the entire Internet community picked up the news and started raising objections. There are many reasons why ACTA is so heavily criticized. Civil society organizations say it poses a threat to freedom of speech, protection of personal data and that the measures it includes are not proportionate. One of the main arguments is that the agreement is so vague that it is actually difficult to predict what exactly will the effects of the act be. (more…)

The situation in Hungary seems to be more and more alarming. The ruling party FIDESZ, headed by Victor Orban, is undertaking legislative initiatives which have a degrading impact on respect of human rights and democratic standards. The recent developments, mainly the reform of the Central Bank, despite the negative assessment of the European Commission may serve as an example. The law adopted on 30 December 2011 merges the competences of the Central Bank and the Financial Control. Moreover, the amendments diminish the competences of the President of the Central Bank. This approach will hinder the possibility for financial aid attributed by the International Monetary Fund.

More of dubious legislative changes have been observed in the recent year.  Starting with the adoption of the Constitution changes in November 2010, which importantly limited the competences of the Constitutional Tribunal in tax and customs relating cases. (more…)

On 16^th December 2011, Polish Supreme Administrative Court declared that “amounts of money” paid for undue length of civil or criminal proceedings should be exempted from taxation. Those amounts are paid on the basis of special law of 2004 on complaint on excessive length of proceeding (skarga na przewlekłość postępowania). Tax authorities had unclear approach to amounts of money adjudicated on the basis of said law. In some cases they treated them as an additional profit and requested payment of taxes. In some other cases they took into consideration their compensatory nature for negligence of courts and declared that awarded “amounts of money” should be exempted from taxation. (more…)