State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law 2021 PDF Download

Author: Council of Europe
Publisher: Council of Europe
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Democracy is in distress! The Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, has highlighted a “clear and worrying degree of democratic backsliding” in her latest annual report on the state of democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the continent. “In many cases, the problems we are seeing predate the coronavirus pandemic but there is no doubt that legitimate actions taken by national authorities in response to Covid-19 have compounded the situation. The danger is that our democratic culture will not fully recover,” said the Secretary General. “Our member states now face a choice. They can continue to permit or facilitate this democratic backsliding or they can work together to reverse this trend, to reinforce and renew European democracy and to create an environment in which human rights and the rule of law flourish. “This is the right option for the 830 million people who live in the Council of Europe area.” Based on the findings of different Council of Europe bodies, including the European Court of Human Rights, the Secretary General’s report assesses recent developments in areas including political institutions and judicial independence, freedom of expression and association, human dignity, anti-discrimination and democratic participation. The report encourages member states to use existing and future Council of Europe mechanisms to address many of the challenges identified, on the basis of the following key principles: - National authorities should return to fundamental democratic principles and recommit to Council of Europe legal standards, including the implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights; - Member states should fully embrace the multilateralism embodied by the Council of Europe for more than 70 years; - Covid-related restrictions and measures must not only be necessary and proportionate, but also limited in duration; - National authorities should embrace democratic culture, recognising where their words, activities or legislation have diminished that culture by reducing civic space, by intimidating or preventing individuals, organisations and NGOs from exercising their freedom of speech or assembly, or by excluding people from participating fully in society.

Author: Vincenzo Cicchelli
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031118251
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
This book explores disrupted youth cohesion in France within the context of multiple ongoing global economic, migratory, social, political, and security-related crises. While these trends can be observed in numerous Western societies, France provides a unique case study of various anti-cosmopolitan and anti-Enlightenment movements shaping youth conditions and reconfiguring relationships between the individual, the group, and society. The authors undertook in-depth interviews with French young people between the ages of 18 to 30 years old to inquire into how they experience "vivre ensemble" (living together) in a time of rising economic inequalities and multicultural tensions. Through these findings, they invite decision-makers, politicians, educators, and parents to propose a renewed narrative of social cohesion for youth who are not disillusioned, but deeply on edge.

Author: Bruno Haller
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900448244X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
This collection of studies intends to honour Heinrich Klebes, who both as a distinguished international civil servant and as a scholar and analyst has made and continues to make an important contribution to the development of European cooperation in general and within the Council of Europe in particular. At the same time, it offers a unique and stimulating analysis of the development of a common body of law in the wider Europe. The twenty-nine articles contained in this volume are grouped together under five headings: - commitment to democratic standards; - protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms; - the Council of Europe in context; - the common legal space; - common problems of democracy and transatlantic relations.

Author: María Elósegui
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030560015
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
This book discusses the nature of the challenges that have confronted European democracies in recent years. In the past decade, the rule of law in Europe has been put under strain by both external and internal factors. The term “illiberal democracies” is sometimes used to describe the rise of a phenomenon in which the fundamental values of the European legal order, as enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, are called into question. The preservation of the independence of the judiciary, of the freedom of expression and the protection of journalists are among the values under threat. But these challenges are also present within the older democracies in which emergency regimes have become more common. As the European Union’s sanctions regime shows, striking a balance between security and the rule of law, of which fundamental rights are an intrinsic part, is a constant challenge. Focusing on the European courts’ responses to these threats, the book discusses how courts could provide the ultimate line of defense. The acid test of the rule of law might indeed be how it safeguards the judicial guarantees designed to protect core European values beyond the discretion of government.

Author: NJ Ayuk
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
ISBN: 164146612X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 187

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Book Description
"Je suis d'accord avec les points soulevés ― et avec l’argument d'Ayuk pour le rôle critique que l'OPEP jouera afin que les produits pétroliers africains se fasse une voix bien méritée dans l'industrie pétrolière." —Secrétaire général de l'OPEP, S.E. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo Deux décennies de négociation d'accords pétroliers et gaziers africains ont donné à NJ Ayuk une compréhension du paysage énergétique du continent que peu de gens peuvent égaler. L'avocat de l'énergie africain, formé aux États-Unis, fournit des doses généreuses de cette idée dans son deuxième livre, Billions at Play: The Future of Africa Energy and Doing Deals. Servant de feuille de route pour que le continent fasse un meilleur travail en utilisant ses vastes ressources énergétiques pour améliorer la vie de ses populations, Ayuk explique comment les pays africains peuvent utiliser leurs industries énergétiques comme tremplins pour diversifier et développer leur économie globale. De plus, Ayuk montre comment les gouvernements africains et les entreprises locales peuvent négocier de meilleurs accords avec les sociétés énergétiques internationales et comment les pays du continent peuvent utiliser des gisements de pétrole et de gaz marginaux pour développer des industries énergétiques nationales qui, une fois fortes, seront compétitives au niveau mondial. Questions posées et réponses:

Author: Katarzyna Gromek-Broc
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
ISBN: 9403541067
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 761

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Book Description
Public law, which examines relations between governments and institutions and individuals, has, in recent years, become deeply disturbed by an erosion of the rule of law, notably in some of the world’s most professedly democratic nations. In this book of edited essays, many of the world’s leading public lawyers draw on examples from the United Kingdom, European States, and the European Union (EU) to explore the alarming tensions unleashed as Europe is rocked by Brexit, the war between nations on the EU border, and the worldwide phenomenon of populist resistance to globalised forces and liberal democratic aspirations. The book is dedicated to Professor Patrick Birkinshaw, who until his retirement was Director of the Institute of European Public Law and Professor of Public Law at the University of Hull and widely respected as a leading authority on public law. With a focus on public law and European public law jurisprudence with hugely important global ramifications, the contributions continue his work and crucially deal with the new and troubling shape of the law–politics relationship. The essays examine these developments under four headings: Law in a World Turned Upside/Down, with essays on (e.g.) Brexit, the denial of human rights and the rule of law in Hungary, climate change governance; Law and Politics: A Shifting Boundary?, showing how advances in the courts have prompted reaction to curtail judicial review and human rights protection, especially evident in the fading mirage of fair trial rights and administration on the EU periphery; Law’s Promise, specifying real achievements in the way of reform and higher levels of security for individuals; and New Bearings, exploring initiatives and emerging problems, including reform of judicial review, the European Banking Law, digitalization of public administration, and institutional interactions with the Chinese 1982 Constitution. The book brings together leading university professors, public officials and judges, all experts in their respective fields. All are concerned with a central role for law in the process of governance. This unrivalled volume penetrates the contradictions, uncertainties, and insecurities that plague this topic of worldwide interest and debate, and will prove invaluable to practitioners, public administrators, jurists, judges and legal academics everywhere. It will also be of interest to political scientists and politicians. In its completely original and innovative discussions of the changes taking place at the interface of law and politics, and of how law can enhance certainty and reliability in governance, this book provides a most detailed and insightful analysis of the new bearings in public law in Europe and worldwide.

Author: Daniel Erasmus Khan
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004508716
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
Our world is in urgent need of global answers on subjects such as Big Data, climate change, and the interconnected global economy. This volume tackles those issues and more, with the goal of advancing more democratic modes of decision-making.

Author: Christiane Höhn
Publisher: Bruylant
ISBN: 2802770705
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 666

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Book Description
Ce Liber Amicorum, qui rend hommage à Gilles de Kerchove, coordinateur de l’Union européenne pour la lutte contre le terrorisme de 2007 à 2021, dresse le bilan de ce qui a été mené dans ce secteur ces dernières années et se penche également sur les défis à venir. Après une introduction retraçant le parcours du récipiendaire, la première partie se penche sur différents aspects de la coopération au sein de l’Union européenne, allant du mandat d’arrêt européen, à la protection des droits fondamentaux en passant par le rôle de certaines institutions ou agences de l’UE. La deuxième partie traite de la coopération entre l’UE et le reste du monde, qu’il s’agisse d’organisations mondiales ou de certains États en particulier, comme les États-Unis. La troisième partie, plus transversale, rassemble des contributions diverses touchant notamment à l’État islamique, au financement du terrorisme, aux victimes et aux nouvelles technologies. L’ouvrage se clôt par une quatrième partie relative à la prévention, à la lutte contre la radicalisation, aux valeurs, à la liberté de la presse et à la littérature. Les auteurs, issus de diverses parties du monde, présentent des profils très divers, parmi lesquels d’éminentes figures politiques, des fonctionnaires européens, des académiques, des magistrats et des journalistes. L’ouvrage a été coordonné par Dr. Christiane Höhn, Conseillère principale de Gilles de Kerchove, Isabel Saavedra, son Assistante personnelle et Prof. Anne Weyembergh, Professeur ordinaire à l’Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). * * * This Liber Amicorum, which pays tribute to Gilles de Kerchove, EU counter-terrorism coordinator from 2007 to 2021, takes stock of what has been achieved in this field in recent years and looks at the challenges ahead. After an introduction tracing the recipient’s background, the first part looks at different aspects of cooperation within the European Union, ranging from the European arrest warrant, to the protection of fundamental rights and the role of certain EU institutions or agencies. The second part deals with cooperation between the EU and the rest of the world, both with global organisations and with specific States, such as the United States. The third, cross-cutting part brings together various contributions relating to the Islamic State, the financing of terrorism, victims and new technologies. The book concludes with a fourth part on prevention, the fight against radicalisation, values, freedom of the press and literature. The authors come from various parts of the world and present a wide range of profiles, including prominent political figures, EU officials, academics, magistrates and journalists. The book was coordinated by Dr. Christiane Höhn, Principal Advisor to Gilles de Kerchove, Isabel Saavedra, his Personal Assistant and Prof. Anne Weyembergh, Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

Author: Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004479015
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 862

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Book Description
Georges Abi-Saab began his writing and teaching at a time when the process of decolonization, and thereafter the quest for emancipation, began to make its far-reaching impact on the international scene, producing significant changes in the international environment, both quantitatively in increasing the number of nation-States and qualitatively in changing patterns of interests and claims. This was bound to result in new pressures on the international legal system itself and in a questioning of the traditional Eurocentric content of international law. In his work and teaching Professor Abi-Saab viewed the dynamics of international law as a function of two driving forces: the emergence of the third world and the sense of injustice. In his view, the first driving force - the emergence of the third world - raised the problem of exclusion: exclusion from participation in the elaboration of international law and the decision-making process, and exclusion as beneficiaries of the resulting rules of international law. At the same time, this new force introduced diversity into the international scene, reflecting the richness of the international community in its different facets. This process remains relevant today, reflecting the contemporary problem of exclusion of new actors as well as their quest for participation. The second driving force - the sense of injustice - posed a teleological problem for him, that of defining community values in order that they capture the different facets of justice, whether formal or distributive. So long as there is no effective organic structure, international law in his view will continue to remain effectiveness-oriented, reflecting rather than impacting on the structures of power. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that there is an on-going process of development of community values and interests; as Georges Abi-Saab wrote with reference to international crimes: `law, like all social phenomena, is a continuous unfolding, a continuous process of elaboration'. He has also considered that the dynamics of the international legal process itself can be captured from the perspective of international organizations as vehicles for change in the international system. From his early writings, Georges Abi-Saab approached the United Nations Charter as a blueprint - both normative and institutional - for a certain type of international society. International institutions with all their imperfections, continue for him to be the means of realization of the law of cooperation which lies at the heart of his concept of the international system. The themes selected for this volume in honour of Professor Georges Abi-Saab are intended to reflect his unique and pioneering contribution to the field of international law. The contributors are drawn from what he has always considered to be his large `family' of former students: in his forty years of teaching, Georges Abi-Saab has acted as mentor to generations of students from all over the world who have benefited from his vision, insights, originality and creative and stimulating use of language. The contributors also include colleagues and friends who share a similar vision of the international legal system.

Author: David Koussens
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031182316
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
The increasing visibility of Islam in France and the vehemence of debates about it have often contributed to narrow public perceptions of secularism to a simplistic antireligious crusade, a misleading image disseminated by the media and politicians alike. Taking the opposite stand, this book embarks on a comprehensive effort to document the multiple areas in which French secularism plays out - in debates over “cults,” places of worship, chaplaincy services in public institutions, the recognition of associations of worship, and more -, outlining and analizing the legal paths favored by the state in the regulation of religious diversity. While Islam has undoubtedly contributed to the reshaping of French secularism in the last decades, the book moves beyond what has come to be known as the "Muslim Question" to look at the multiplicity of challenges contemporary religious beliefs, practices, and organizations now pose to the state. David Koussens examines the main political and legal configurations of French secularism over the last thirty years through a sociological and juridical lens, in order to better document its diversity. Such a portrait emphasizes that French secularism is not a univocal phenomenon but one that appears in many guises.