100 posts
Technology and Schengen Governance
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On the 21 March 2013 the LIBE Committee organised a hearing on Schengen Governance and Border Management with the aim of presenting the state of play and latest developments, with a particular eye to the switch-on of the revised Schengen Information...
A border control dressed up as a customs control, inside Schengen. Buchs, Switzerland, 1020, 14 March 2013
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Switzerland is in the Schengen Area. But it is not part of the EU Customs Union. Therein is the newest excuse I’ve heard for a border control within the Schengen...
A New Moment of Opportunity for al Qaeda?
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Major world powers have remained lnactive as the Syrian regime continues its quasi-genocidal repression, offering Al Qaeda an opportunity to re-introduce its discredited philosophy.The post A New Moment of Opportunity for al Qaeda? appeared first on...
Visa facilitations for the benefit of tourists
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Today's pressconference Photo: EbS To facilitate travelling for tourists willing to visit Europe, and to spend their time and money, is crucial for our economy, and this is particularly important in a time of crisis, like the one that we are expe...
Chronicle of a death re-told
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IN the early hours of January 28th, 2006, a young banker named Sandro Girgvliani (pictured on a poster of protestors above) went to a Tbilisi cafe to see his girlfriend. She was sitting with a group of senior interior ministry officials, includi...
Is it Safe to Go Home Now?
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Belgium’s “safe country of origin” list includes just seven countries, six from the Balkans.
UK 'cannot afford' Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants
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In 2014 there will be an unprecedented crime wave in Britain if we do not stop Romanian and Bulgarian citizens having open door access to British borders, claims Godfrey Bloom...
Refugees on Hunger Strike in Germany against Politics of Deterrence
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On October 24, twenty-five asylum-seekers went on hunger strike in front of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The protest in the highly symbolic location, which stands for the once violent division of a people by politics, is the latest in a chain reaction...
Teare J refuses to recuse himself from Ablyazov case
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video By Katy Dowell Addleshaw Goddard has failed in its b...
Yeni Anayasa günlüğü: Komisyonun süresi yetmiyor… Başbakanın ümidi azalıyor… CHP biz yaparız diyor..
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AB’den Türkiye’ye ‘anayasa’ hatırlatması ntvmsnbc AB’den Türkiye’ye ‘anayasa’ hatırlatması. Türkiye’deki yeni anayasa sürecinden umutlu olduğunu belirten AB Komisyonu’nun genişleme...
In case you hadn't noticed .. some fresh book notices
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Those IP publications just keep coming out, and here's a selection of some of the more recent titles to have come across the IPKat's path. Keeping Secrets: a Practical Introduction to Trade Secret Law and Strategy, is an attractively produce...
A US immigration fairytale: happy ever after?
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Immigration is a key but contradictory topic in the run-up to the US presidential elections on 6 November. Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are toeing a careful line, lauding the USA’s origins as a land of immigration whilst promising to secure US...
Blogs review: The economics and politics of migration in the economic crisis
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Authors: David C. Saha, Christoph SkupnikWhat’s at stake: Rising unemployment in rich Western states fundamentally changes the context of migration. High unemployment among immigrants reduces the pull exerted by richer countries on potential immigr...
Combating money laundering: EU law in an international context
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Money laundering is a global phenomenon, the scope of which cannot be reliably estimated. It takes a plethora of forms, characterised by varying degrees of sophistication. Prevention is a crucial element of anti-money laundering (AML) actions...
Mody’s Dilemma: Evicting the Vulnerable As Refugee Centers Run Out of Money
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A few months ago my friend good friend Mody, a Sudanese refugee in Sicily, sent me a photo of an …Continue reading »...
TESEV ANAYASA İZLEME ÇALIŞMASI’NIN İKİNCİ İZLEME RAPORU YAYINLANDI
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TESEV ANAYASA İZLEME ÇALIŞMASI’NIN İKİNCİ İZLEME RAPORU YAYINLANDI TESEV Demokratikleşme Programı’nın yeni Anayasa sürecini izlemek ve kayıt altına almak üzere başladığı Anayasa İzleme Çalışması’nın Şubat-Haziran...
The EU law blogosphere
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We wanted to draw readers’ attention to a few other blogs dealing with matters of EU law. First of all, we are delighted to draw attention to a new blog, europaeuslaw, founded by our loyal contributor Professor Peter Lindseth (U.Conn.), wh...
Flying Scotsman? No, it's an IP litigant ...
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More puff power for pursuers ... From the IPKat's friend Susan Sneddon (Maclay Murray & Spens) comes some significant news from Scotland -- if you are thinking of litigating an IP dispute in that jurisdiction, that is. She writes: "The pr...
Interview With Lampedusan Activist , Giacomo Sferlazza: “Trying to change the world and realizing that the biggest risk is to be changed by the world.”
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Giacomo Sferlazzo is a most gracious man. He is also a very busy man so I am so grateful that …Continue reading »...
Why Silvio Berlusconi's jail sentence matters, even though he won't serve it | John Hooper
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Regional elections will test whether Italians have lost patience with the sleaze and corruption of Berlusconi and his partyThere is rich irony in what has happened in Italy this week.Ever since Silvio Berlusconi decided to enter politics 19 long year...
“Ask responsibly”: a warning on the hypertrophy of referrals for preliminary rulings
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Dr Albert Sanchez Graells The tendency towards saturation and the risk of a bottleneck in the activities of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) are one the main concerns that prompted the recent changes in the rules … Continue rea...
Twitter reacts to Berlusconi’s four year jail sentence for tax evasion
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Incredible – Berlusconi sentenced to 4 years prison for tax evasion – plus an extra 6 months for not predicting earthquakes. — John O’Farrell (@mrjohnofarrell) October 26, 2012 Can it really be true that Italian court has sentence...
We can do more
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IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation/TURKEY (c) The fog was dense in Luxembourg when the Council meeting for Justice and Home Affairs was about to start. Several of the ministers could not land because the airport was closed in the morning. Various top...
Friday Update: Berlusconi, Ukraine and Golden Dawn
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Happy Friday. Vox Europa is undergoing a slight change, with new updates on Mondays and Fridays dedicated to a few key stories, while Wednesdays will be dedicated to longer analyses. Ciao Silvio Two days after officially announcing that he would R...
ExxonMobil executive gunned down in Belgium
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By DON MELVIN BRUSSELS — So far, it’s still a mystery. A British oil executive gunned down in front of his wife in the Belgian capital of Brussels. Helmeted assailants escaping on a motorcycle. No arrests. A driver of a white van who has not...
Berlusconi gets four-year jail term (but likely won’t serve time)
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Silvio Berlusconi’s conviction for tax fraud certainly warmed Scrapbook’s cockles cold Friday afternoon. A look through the history books, however, shows that the former PM has a habit of getting away with it: Year: 1990 Conviction: Per...
Organised crime in Italy
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Italy is the location of one of the five criminal hubs in the EU, according to Europol. Criminal hubs are concentrations of criminal logistics which receive illicit flows from numerous sources, and whose influence extends throughout the EU. The Sou...
Manslaughter in L’Aquila: How to kill scientific advice
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Like many, I am still in shock that Italian courts have handed out six-year prison sentences to the six seismologists and one official for giving inadequate advice to the residents of L’Aquila days prior to the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that killed...
Wave a banknote at a pundit and he'll predict anything | Simon Jenkins
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Of course it is outrageous to jail scientists for honest errors, but it is legitimate to hold them to some accountOn the evening of 5 April 2009, Luigi Guigno of L'Aquila in Italy was phoned by a sister terrified by tremors under their village. He to...
Moscow Police Arrest Internet Scam Suspects
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Russian authorities have charged nine West African immigrants with allegedly stealing 900 million rubles ($28.8 million) from hundreds of foreign companies.
Top Secret Intelligence in Europe: A Tipping Point in Luxembourg?
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Deirdre Curtin This post originally appeared originally on acelg.blogactiv.eu and europaeuslaw.blogspot.co.uk and is reposted here with permission and thanks. Kadi is back in Luxembourg and with a vengeance! The timing is interesting both for...
European Stability Mechanism before the ECJ
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Irish independent TD (MP) Thomas Pringle’s case against the European Stability Mechanism has reached the Court of Justice in Luxembourg, referred there for interpretation on 3 questions by the national court. The 3 questions, are:(1) Whether the Eu...
Falling on dumb ears...
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There's not an awful lot of point in the UK government conducting 32 reports into aspects of EU membership if its not going to heed the advice it already gets on matters European. Britain's foreign secretary William Hague announced the initiative ye...
Subsidiarity: Right of Access to an Attorney
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Virtually all Europeans imagine their right to an attorney to be more or less the way they see it in American cop shows on TV. In reality, however, the law in most European countries is not quite so generous. Even under the 2008 ECtHR ruling of Saldu...
Refugees in Poland on Hunger Strike
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Over seventy people continue a hunger strike in polish detention centers.Below is a statement from the website supporting the strikersFacebook group herePart of the detainees claim they lack competent legal support or interpreting services, which se...
Wondering whether to vote in the police elections? Listen to Ian Blair
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Ian Blair’s hostility to democracy is no longer disguised. The former Met Commissioner is telling us to boycott next month’s shrieval elections. Like many senior coppers, he resents the notion of constabularies being overseen by elected represent...
Swiss view partnerships as a way to curb illegal migration
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video In Switzerland, many problems with illegal migration and asylum seekers from third-world countries are being s...
EASO's October newsletter
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A few days ago we received EASO's October newsletter, giving updated information on the Agency's activities and recruitment opportunities. The newsletter (in .pdf) can be downloaded here.
Commission for Strengthening Democracy and the Rule of Law – Venice Commission
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The Venice Commission, when looking at the proposed new law on the Public Prosecutors Office of Ukraine, has in summary, made it clear that whilst the new law goes a long way to improving matters and generally brings Ukraine into EU norms (with the n...
Is the Commission Blackmailing Britain?
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In October 2012, the Daily Onlinereported, “Brussels officials are threatening to hit Britain with millions of pounds in fines in retaliation for pulling out of pan-European justice and crime policies.” It is the element of “retaliation” that...
Ben Needham's disappearance is a matter for Greek police | Martin Kettle
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South Yorkshire police's decision to send officers to the island of Kos is astonishing at a time when services are being cutWhat could possibly explain why a squad of British police officers want to leave wet and windy Yorkshire in October and spend...
Askavusa, Lampedusa, and a Meditation on the Condition of the Refugee
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Refugees live in a divided world, between countries in which they cannot live, and countries in which they may not …Continue reading »...
More on the amicus -- from the horse's mouth
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Great potential -- but do theyhave a role in Europe? Yesterday morning the IPKat posted this item on amicus curiae briefs in trade mark litigation. This morning he is delighted to offer you some inside information about one such amicus brief -- in...
Seven days in Europe
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Cigarette vending machines have been outlawed in Scotland after an attempt to judicially review legislation banning them failed at the Court of Session. Sinclair Collis Ltd attempted to argue that the ban breached TFEU provisions on free movement of...
This Week in Luxembourg
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This week the Grand Chamber (Judge Tizzano) ruled in Hungary v. Slovakia, siding with the latter. Slovakia was entitled to forbid the President of Hungary from entering its territory. This seems like one of those highly contested judgments, because t...
Focus on trafficking in human beings
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Eleni Mavrou and Cecilia Malmström speaking @ anti-trafficking conference 18 oct 2012 “What does the EU do to fight trafficking?”. That is one of the questions I am most frequently asked when I receive visitors groups in my cabinet in th...
Details On Immigration To Poland
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Immigration to Poland has brought huge modifications in every aspect of the Polish local community. It has changed from simple giving of licenses to some more complex, very tight process of acquiring visas and citizenship.
CJEU in Purely Creative: Black Listed Practice in UCPD
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Today the CJEU published its judgment in the Purely Creative case, giving explanation as to the interpretation of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. In particular, the case pays attention to Paragraph 31 of the Directive’s “Black List”,...
