News feed

The canton of St Gallen has become the second in Switzerland to vote in favor of a ban on facial coverings in public. The Swiss also voted against a measure promoting organic and sustainable agriculture.
Source: dw.com

Poland was suspended from the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary on Monday because the body that nominates the country’s judges is no longer seen as being independent of political control.
Source: politico.eu

A woman is challenging a decision to prosecute her for obtaining abortion pills for her pregnant underage daughter in a potential landmark case for abortion rights in Northern Ireland. She will seek to overturn a decision by the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland to subject her to a criminal trial and the prospect of five years in prison for supplying the pills in 2013 to her then 15-year-old daughter, who terminated the pregnancy.
Source: theguardian.com

Croatia's Labour Minister Marko Pavić has proposed bringing the raise in the retirement age forward to 2031. Originally the planned increase from from 65 to 67 years of age was not to take place until 2038. Bringing the retirement age up to 67 has been stipulated by the European Commission. For some journalists the initiative is timely, but others worry about the fate of future pensioners.
Source: eurotopics.net

EU lawmakers voted on Wednesday in favor of initiating measures against the Hungarian government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban for allegedly breaching the values upon which the EU was founded. The measure allows Article 7 sanctions, under the Treaty of Lisbon, to be brought against Hungary, which could result in the country’s expulsion from the EU. The resolution was passed by a vote of 448 to 197, with 48 abstentions, meeting the two-thirds majority threshold needed to begin such legal action.
Source: jurist.org

The Duma of the Russian Federation adopted on first reading the bill penalizing firing people of the pre-retirement age. The document assumes introduction of fines up to 200.000 Russian rubles or income over the period up to 18 months or up to 360 hours of community service.
Source: meduza.io

EU President Jean-Claude Juncker announced  the proposal of new rules for requiring the removal of terrorist content from the internet within one hour. The one-hour rule would require that the content be removed within one hour of receiving a removal notification from national competent authorities. Failure to remove content within the hour can result in fines up to 4 percent of the previous business year’s global turnover.
Source: jurist.org

Current legislation covering racist, homophobic or anti-Semitic messages posted online forces judges to hand out a minimum of 30 months’ jail time. Spain’s attorney general is proposing a change to the country’s criminal code so that hate crimes committed via social networks are no longer only punishable by jail sentences.
Source: elpais.com

The EU Parliament has decided in favour of a new intellectual property law aimed at strengthening the rights of publishers, artists and journalists. Internet platforms must prevent content protected by copyright from being put online. The reform will be put to vote in the member states next spring.
Source: eurotopics.net  

The southern Spanish region wants to reactivate a 2007 bilateral agreement to cope with overcrowded centers packed with 2,500 foreign youngsters. Existing laws already include a protocol for their repatriation, but in practice it is not being implemented due to lack of cooperation from Morocco and other countries of origin.
Source: elpais.com

Almost half of member states appear to have shown little interest in implementing an EU law billed as key in fighting terrorism. Adopted in April 2016, the EU's passenger name record directive was pressed through the EU legislative pipeline amid noisy promises to shore up Europe's security in the wake of terror attacks in France and Belgium. It came with big caveats and received millions of EU taxpayer's money.
Source: euobserver.com

A consultation on introducing “no-fault divorces”, which could streamline the slow and confrontational procedures couples face when separating, is being prepared by the government. The justice secretary, David Gauke, who has previously acknowledged that the argument for reform is “strong”, is expected to launch a public debate on proposals to modernize legislation that has not been changed for almost 50 years.
Source: theguardian.com