Guidance on judicial application of the EU Counter-terrorism Directive

Guidance on judicial application of the EU Counter-terrorism Directive

The ICJ and partners published today Counter-terrorism and human rights in the courts: guidance for judges, prosecutors and lawyers on application of EU Directive 2017/541 on combatting terrorism (the Guidance).

The Guidance, published by the ICJ together with its partners Human Rights in Practice, Nederlands Juristen Comité voor de Mensenrechten (NJCM) and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa, addresses the appropriate interpretation and application of the EU Directive in practice throughout investigation, prosecution and trial, consistently with international and EU human rights law and standards.

The Guidance (Counter-terrorism and human rights in the courts: guidance for judges, prosecutors and lawyers on application of EU Directive 2017/541 on combatting terrorism) was prepared as part of the JUSTICE project, building on expert roundtables held in 2019 across the EU (in Pisa, the Hague, Madrid and Brussels) with judges, lawyers, prosecutors and other relevant experts from a number of EU Member States, as well as national studies and consultations with judges, lawyers and prosecutors in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy and France. The project was further supported by associate partners: Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés (MEDEL), Juezas y Jueces para la Democracia in Spain and Neue Richtervereinigung in Germany.

It gives a comprehensive overview of the relevant international and EU legal standards and criminal law principles on investigation, prosecution and trial of terrorism cases, based on the EU Directive, to ensure that the Directive is applied in a human rights compliant manner.

The Guidance provides in its section II an overview of applicable international law and standards in law and practice. It covers counter-terrorism law in states of emergency, rights of victims of terrorism and human rights implicated by the Directive offences (principle of legality, non-discrimination, restrictions on freedom of movement, expression, association, assembly, privacy, private and family life and the right to political participation). Section III provides specific guidance and related commentary on each of the Directive offences and section IV covers the rights of suspects in the criminal process – investigation, prosecution and trial.

The Guidance is being launched today in an on-line webinar co-hosted by MEP Saskia Bricmont the Greens from the European Parliament and the speakers include national judges and lawyers, international experts, and representatives of the European Commission, Eurojust, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and Members of the European Parliament, see the agenda here.

Contact:
Róisín Pillay, Director Europe and Central Asia Programme; roisin.pillay(a)icj.org
Karolína Babická, Legal adviser Europe and Central Asia Programme; karolina.babicka(a)icj.org

Download:
Guidance-counterterrorism-ENG-2020 (Guidance in English)
Guidance-counterterrorism-FR-2020 (Guidance in French)
Guidance-counterterrorism-ITA-2020 (Guidance in Italian)
Guidance-counterterrorism-DE-2020 (Guidance in German)
Guidance-counterterrorism-ESP-2020 (Guidance in Spanish)

Background research documents:

The summary of baseline studies related to national legal frameworks in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain

The summary of research on national legislation in France, Greece, Cyprus, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Romania

Reports from four expert Roundtables held in April-November 2019 in Pisa (Italy), the Hague (the Netherlands), Madrid (Spain) and Brussels (Belgium)

Articles/blogs published within the Justice project: 

Adélaïde Jacquin: Religious discrimination in counterterrorism in France, Opinio Juris, 28.5.2020

Mohamed Rafik: Using Administrative Powers in Order to Combat Terrorism Brings Down the Democratic Constitutional State, Opinio Juris, 22.10.2020

Simon Bekaert: The Spanish Rapper Extradition Case Before a Belgian Court Fires up the Legal Discussion on Freedom of Expression and Other Fundamental Rights, Opinio Juris, 13.11.2020

Karolina Babicka: EU Counter-terrorism Directive 2017/541: impact on human rights and way forward at EU level, Opinio Juris, 20.11.2020

Sizaire, Vincent, On a proper application of the European Union directive on combating terrorism / Vincent Sizaire. – In: European human rights law review, issue 3 (2020), p. 205-210

Duffy, Helen, “The EU Directive and the Expansive Criminalisation of Terrorism” in Paulussen and Capone, “Returning Foreign Fighters: Responses, Challenges and Ways Forward” (2nd ed), to be published in 2021

DAUSTER, Manfred , Nationality at Stake: Repatriation of German Foreign Fighters and their Families under German Law / Manfred Dauster. – In: European Human Rights Law Review, issue 6 (2020).

Gaetana Morgante: From the perspective of the national partner to the project in Italy.

ICJ Guidance on extraditions and expulsions in Central Asia

ICJ Guidance on extraditions and expulsions in Central Asia

The ICJ published today its new Guidance on Extraditions and Expulsion in Central Asia, an essential tool for judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, lawyers and NGOs in the region to implement these procedures in full respect of international law.

The Guidance is the fruit of the long-term work of the ICJ to bring proceedings for the transfer of suspects in Central Asian countries, in particular extraditions and expulsions,  in line with States’ obligations under international law, including international human rights and refugee law. It addresses the application by judges and prosecutors of international law and standards in extradition and expulsion proceedings.

This Guidance has been informed by a comparative legal study conducted by the ICJ on the practices of national security-based transfers in countries of the Commonwealth of the Independent States, the European Union and the United States of America. In this study, the ICJ identified shortcomings and provided recommendations to all the countries examined.

Following this mapping, the ICJ, together with the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), the Regional Office for Central Asia of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan convened two Central Asia international expert workshops for judges and prosecutors from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with the participation of international experts from several European countries.

This Guidance provides practical recommendations for judges and prosecutors in the region to uphold international law in extraditions and other procedures for transfer of suspects.

Their purpose is not only to promote the legal compliance of such measures and the rights of those subject to them, but also their effectiveness, in particular in the fight against impunity.

Universal-Extradition&ExpulsionsCA-Publications-Guidance-2020-ENG (Guidance in English)

Universal-Extradition&ExpulsionCA-Publications-Guidance-2020-RUS (Guidance in Russian)

Watch the ICJ, OHCHR and UNODC event on extraditions and expulsion in Central Asia and how to comply with human rights law

 

 

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