In a letter made public today, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, invites the President of Azerbaijan, Mr Ilham Aliyev, to use his authority to return a recently adopted media law to the Milli Majlis to proceed to its substantial revision.

In her letter, the Commissioner raises serious concerns about the compliance of the new media law, which was adopted without broad and meaningful consultations by the Milli Majlis on 30 December 2021, with international human rights standards concerning freedom of expression and media freedom. The law appears to overregulate the media field and the profession of journalism, contrary to the principles of free, independent, uncensored media and pluralism.

“The newly adopted law further deteriorates the situation as concerns freedom of expression and media freedom in the country by granting discretionary powers to state authorities regulating the media sector, including through licensing, excessively restricting journalists’ work, and introducing several limitations to the financial, legal and operational activities of media companies and entities”, writes the Commissioner, stressing the need to bring the law in line with international and European standards on freedom of expression and media freedom.

• Read the Commissioner's letter to the President of Azerbaijan
• Read the reply of the authorities of Azerbaijan to the Commissioner's letter

After a visit to Kybartai Foreigners’ Registration Center (further on – Kybartai FRC), the Head of the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office Erika Leonaitė published an NPM report. Taking into account the circumstances established during monitoring visits regarding the human rights situation of foreigners held in Kybartai FRC as well as relevant international standards and legal acts in force in the Republic of Lithuania, the Seimas Ombudsperson concludes that all the conditions applicable to foreigners in Kybartai FRC are equivalent to inhuman or degrading treatment prohibited under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 

The Seimas Ombudsperson notes in the report that the nature and degree of the actual restrictions applied to foreigners accommodated in Kybartai FRC (material reception conditions, nature of supervision / control, strict restrictions on freedom of movement, length of stay, etc.) are equivalent to detention. 

As concerns material conditions of accommodation of foreigners at Kybartai FRC, the Seimas Ombudsperson draws attention to the significantly smaller than the minimum living space per person, the lack of private space, strict restrictions on movement and lack of hygiene in sector A, which has the largest number of foreigners.  

The report also points out that the right of foreigners to be informed about their rights and obligations, the decisions made against them, and access to legal aid is not adequately guaranteed; therefore, foreigners are often in ignorance. 

Seimas Ombudsperson E. Leonaitė also draws the attention to the fact that the European Committee against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has made it clear that the detention of illegal migrants must not become a punishment: “Things that we all take for granted – the opportunity to wash our hands with warm water or take a warm shower, buy food, make food or just make tea has become a privilege and a big event for those held here.” 

Speaking about the degrading conditions, the Seimas Ombudsperson notes that the state must ensure that these people are provided with at least minimum conditions that meet their human dignity: “While visiting Kybartai with the team, we met people of different nationalities, cultures and backgrounds, held in crowded conditions without even the slightest degree of privacy and suffering from uncertainty about their future.” 

The visits of the Seimas Ombudsperson and the employees of the Human Rights Division of the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office to Kybartai FRC were carried out on 14-16 December 2021, 22-23 December 2021 and on 12 January 2022.

Court of Justice of the European Union

PRESS RELEASE No 15/22

Luxembourg, 25 January 2022

Judgment in Case C-638/19 P Commission v European Food SA and Others

The General Court erred in law in finding that the Commission lacked competence to examine, in the light of the law on State aid, the compensation paid to Swedish investors by Romania in implementation of an arbitral award

While that award had upheld the argument of those investors that that Member State had unlawfully repealed a tax incentives scheme before its accession to the European Union, the aid measure referred to by the Commission was nevertheless granted after that accession

On 29 May 2002, the Kingdom of Sweden and Romania concluded a bilateral investment treaty on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments (‘the BIT’), Article 2(3) of which provides that each contracting party would at all times ensure fair and equitable treatment of the investments by investors of the other contracting party. The BIT provides, in addition, that disputes between investors and the contracting countries are to be settled by an arbitral tribunal. (...)

Link: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2022-01/cp220015fr.pdf

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Cour de justice de l’Union européenne

COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE n° 15/22

Luxembourg, le 25 janvier 2022

Arrêt dans l’affaire C-638/19 P Commission/European Food e.a.

Le Tribunal a commis une erreur de droit en concluant que la Commission n’était pas compétente pour examiner, à la lumière du droit des aides d’État, l’indemnisation versée à des investisseurs suédois par la Roumanie en exécution d’une sentence arbitrale

Si cette sentence avait accueilli l’argumentation de ces investisseurs selon laquelle cet État membre avait abrogé de façon illicite un régime d’incitations fiscales avant son adhésion à l’Union, la mesure d’aide visée par la Commission a néanmoins été accordée après cette adhésion

Le 29 mai 2002, le Royaume de Suède et la Roumanie ont conclu un traité bilatéral d’investissement pour la promotion et la protection réciproque des investissements (ci-après le « TBI »), dont l’article 2, paragraphe 3, dispose que chaque partie contractante assure à tout moment un traitement juste et équitable aux investissements des investisseurs de l’autre partie contractante. Le TBI prévoit, en outre, que les différends entre les investisseurs et les pays signataires sont réglés par un tribunal arbitral. (...)

El síndic de Greuges de la Comunitat Valenciana, Ángel Luna, ha instado a la Conselleria de Sanidad Universal y Salud Pública a dotar de los medios personales y materiales necesarios para atender la demanda existente de tratamientos de reproducción asistida.

La actuación del defensor valenciano se inició hace unos meses tras la queja presentada por una ciudadana preocupada por la demora para iniciar un tratamiento de fecundación in vitro en el Hospital Clínico Universitario de València. La afectada, con baja reserva ovárica, había planteado su problema ante el SAIP y solicitaba un adelanto en la lista de espera atendiendo a sus circunstancias personales, pero seguía a la espera de una contestación.

Tras solicitar información sobre este asunto, la Conselleria comunicó al Síndic que ya había trasladado respuesta a la persona interesada en la que manifestaban que “priorizar a personas con baja reserva es difícil, a la par que un agravio comparativo para otras usuarias inscritas en la lista de espera y que también se encuentran en el mismo supuesto”.  Asimismo, añadía que la lista de espera de dicho hospital para iniciar el ciclo – de 12 meses- era la más baja de la Comunitat Valenciana.

Sin embargo, para el Síndic, la Administración sanitaria debe dar respuesta a las necesidades de la sociedad valenciana en el actual contexto social donde existe un evidente incremento de parejas y mujeres con problemas para concebir, donde el retraso de la maternidad por razones económicas, laborales y que se escapan muchas veces a la voluntad de las afectadas es una realidad indiscutible, con el consecuente descenso de la natalidad y el envejecimiento de la población.

“El legítimo derecho de las personas a ver colmada su ilusión de una maternidad/paternidad responsable y deseada no puede verse limitada por los problemas de falta de infraestructuras o, en otras palabras, de desajustes entre la demanda y la oferta de la prestación” razona el defensor en su resolución.

En este caso concreto, el Síndic también ha sugerido a la administración sanitaria que el Servicio de Ginecología del Hospital Clínico cite, a la mayor brevedad posible, a la interesada.