Latest posts
ECJ: Imposing administrative and criminal sanctions does not breach the ne bis in idem principle, Fransson, C 617/10
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Mr. Åkerberg Fransson was accused by Swedish prosecution of non payment of about 83 000 € of taxes (income tax, VAT, social security and employer’s part deductions, § 12). He was subjected to tax penalty (administrative one...
Realist views in dissenting opinions of Lithuanian justices on the impeachment of President Paksas, 8/2012
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--> The purpose of this blog is not only making advertising for my private legal practice, but also a development of a critical scholarship empirically analyzing judicial reasoning (that I call judicial shamanism). Therefore, it is sometimes...
Will your lawyer accuse you of money laundering behind your back? Michaud, 12323/11
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--> The EU legislated three directives (nos. 91/308/CEE, 2001/97/CE, 2005/60/CE) requiring attorneys to accuse their clients on a suspicion of money laundering without informing them about this (§§ 9-10). The French law requires your attor...
ECJ gives the green light for the European Stability Mechanism, Pringle, C-370/12
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The European Council took Decision 2011/199/EU of 25/03/2011 amending Article 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) with § 3 providing that the Eurozone Member States may establish a stability mechanism (§ 6). The Decisi...
ECtHR: 7 days of police detention without window and a proper toilet cost € 3 000, Kasperovicius, 54872/08
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On 20/11/2012 the European Court of Human Rights awarded non-pecuniary damages of € 3 000 to Mr Aleksandras Kasperovicius who spent 7 days in Anyksciai Police Detention Facility (§§ 6, 7, 47), since the cell did not have a window, neither a toile...
Broken seal leads to a fine of € 38 million for E.ON Energie AG, C-89/11 P
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The European Commission suspecting E.ON Energie AG in an anti-competitive agreement sent them an inspection in Munchen, which sealed a door at the end of the day in order to continue in the morning. The seal was measuring 90 mm by 60 mm. In the morni...
ESRC forbids reduction of social rights during economic crisis, GENOP-DEI v Greece, 65/2011
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Due to the economic crisis, Greece issued new law allowing dismissal of a person with indefinite contract during a probation period of 12 months without notice (§§ 8, 14). The European Social Rights Committee reminded the Greek Government that in t...
Covering legal costs before the EFTA Court, Konkurrenten.no v ESA, E-14/10 COSTS
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Previously I already wrote about the case Konkurrenten.no. Now the matter of legal costs to be covered by the EFTA Surveillance Authority came back to Luxembourg. The parties finally agreed on hourly rate of € 340 (§ 29) but disagreed on the numbe...
UN HRC: denial of UN HRC competence breaches UN law, Korneenko v Belarus, 1226/2003
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On 25/01/2002, Viktor Korneenko, chairman of the Gomel regional association Civil Initiatives, was fined $ 615 for use of “untied foreign aid” (computer equipment. 5 computers and 2 printers of his NGO were confiscated (§ 2.7). After the exhaust...
No animal rights campaign instrumentalising the Holocaust image (at least in Germany), PETA v Germany, 43481/09
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PETA Deutschland (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) tried to organize an advertising campaign under the head “The Holocaust on your plate” in Germany but it was banned, and the European Court of Human Rights confirms the ban. The poste...
ECtHR makes Slovenia liable for Ljubljanska Banka Sarajevo debts of € 175 million, Alisic et al v 5 ex-Yugoslavian States
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Before the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Mr Alisic and Mr Sadzak had foreign currency savings in Ljubljanska Banka Sarajevo (respectively DEM 4 715.56 and DEM 129 874.30, § 7). After the collapse, the savings were frozen...
ECtHR Grand Chamber sets aside Chamber judgment for errors in appraisal of proportionality in compensation for expropriation, Vistiņš et al v Latvia, 71243/01
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Mr. Jānis Vistiņš had a land with a value of € 900 000 that was expropriated for € 850, and Mr Genādijs Perepjolkins had a land valued at € 5 million expropriated for € 13 500 (§§ 116-117) for purposes of the Riga Port expansion. T...
ECtHR enforces the restitution of Kentbank SA, Süzer et al. v Turkey, 6334/05
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Mr. Mustafa Süzer and Eksen Holding SA owned by him controlled 99 % of the Kentbank capital (§ 5). It was 22nd biggest Turkish bank employing 2000 people in its 93 branches. On 01/02/2001 the Turkish Agency for Regulation and Supervision of Banks a...
Suing State for the right of a doctor to refuse making abortion is declared admissible by the European Social Rights Committee, IPPF EN v Italy, 87/2012
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The International Planned Parenthood Federation – European Network sued Italy before the European Social Rights Committee for violation of Articles 11 (right to health) and E (non-discrimination) of the European Social Charter due to the existing i...
Greek protest culture saves farmers € 425 million (at least temporarily), Greece v Commisssion, T-52/12 R
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There was a crops production decrease in 2008 and 2009 in Greece caused by drought, high temperatures and rainfall, and entomological and phytopathological diseases of the crops. The Greek Government paid € 425 million to 800 000 farmers as an insu...
No free access to Slovakia for the Hungarian President, Hungary v Slovakia, C-364/10
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On 21/08/2009 President László Sólyom of Hungary intended to enter the Slovakian town of Komarno to take part in the ceremony inaugurating the statute of Saint Stephen, founder and the first king of the Hungarian State (§§ 5-6). However the Slov...
End of “You have won!” advertising, Purely Creative Ltd, C-428/11
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The UK Office of Fair Trading accused 5 companies and 3 persons of using the false impression that I' summarise as “You have won” for the promotion of their businesses (§ 2). Paragraph 31 of Annex I to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2...
Avoiding competition formalities and accelerating purchase strategy, Editions Odile Jacob SAS, C-551/10 P
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On 06/11/2012 the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice confirmed the wisdom of Lagardère SCA strategy for accelerating purchase of another company despite the presence of anti-concentration formalities. Vivendi Universal put on the table a...
European Commission may force national courts to enforce its decision while the legality of the decision is pending in Luxembourg, Europese Gemeenschap, C-199/11
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This judgment dated 06/11/2012 is extremely interesting due to the legal strategy used by the European Commission. The Commission took a decision that certain manufacturers of elevators and escalators (Otis NV, Kone Belgium NV, Schindler NV, ThyssenK...
ECtHR established the non-pecuniary damage rates for overcrowding in prisons
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In case Lopata v Russia, the European Court of Human Rights continues applying the pilot judgment Ananyev et al. v Russia, 42525/07, as regards the overcrowding (personal average surface smaller than 4 or even 3 m2) in prisons, which breaches Article...
