Countries

Slovakia's Supreme Court ordered a retrial of a businessman acquitted over the 2018 murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, following an appeal from prosecutors. Citing a lack of evidence, a lower court last year acquitted Marian Kocner in a case that shook Slovakia and led to mass protests against graft in government.

Source: Reuters

The Congress of the Council of Europe adopted two resolutions protecting the LGBTI community from discrimination and hatred at its 40^th Session. The resolutions followed two independent reports — a report that drew attention to the situation of the LGBTI community, and another report drawing attention to increasing attacks against LGBTI people in Poland.

Source : Jurist

The ECHR’s decision to grant “priority” status — which it reserves for the most important, serious, and urgent cases — within a month of its filing means that the case will likely proceed more quickly than ordinary cases. The Russian government has until October 5 to submit its response in the case to the ECHR.

Source : RFE/RL

The Polish government defended a bill that would change the rules for property restitution in the country. Critics say the measure could make it harder for Jewish people to recover property seized by Nazi Germany, and afterwards by communist leaders. Israel slammed the planned changes as "immoral" while the US urged for the bill to be scrapped.

Source: DW

The Vatican has lodged a diplomatic protest against a draft Italian law against homophobia. The so-called Zan law seeks to punish acts of discrimination and incitement to violence against gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people. The Vatican argued in a letter that the bill violates the Concordat, the bilateral treaty between Rome and the Holy See, by curtailing Catholic freedom of belief and expression.

Source: France 24

Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg led the charge against Hungary's anti-LGBT law as European affairs ministers from the 27 EU countries met to discuss the rule of law. In total, 16 member states out of 27 voiced their disapproval of the Hungarian law, which bans the portrayal of homosexuality and sex reassignment in school education material and TV programmes addressed to people under 18 years of age.

Source: Euronews

Russian opposition politician and Moscow municipal deputy Ilya Yashin said he has been barred from running in the upcoming Moscow City Duma elections for supporting jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Yashin said the Moscow electoral commission cited a recent law that bars anyone associated with a terrorist or extremist organization from running for public office.

Source: The Moscow Times

Legal experts from across the globe have drawn up a “historic” definition of ecocide, intended to be adopted by the international criminal court. The draft law defines ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”.

Source: The Guardian