By many Germany is regarded as a model student when it comes to human rights protection. However, this expectation remains unfulfilled in the abortion context since contrary to recommendations by international organizations (e.g. by the World Health Organization, the European Commissioner for Human Rights or the United Nations Human Rights Committee), Germany still criminalizes and […]

On October 22th, 2020 the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (hereinafter: CT or Tribunal) made a judgment on the legality of abortion (case K1/20). The CT has decided about the unconstitutionality of abortion in the circumstances of malformation or serious disease of a foetus[1]. The decision has triggered mass social protests and heated debates – of both […]

Setting the scene   The recent abortion judgement of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (CT) caused a stir not only domestically but also abroad. On 22 October 2020 the Polish CT – with the majority of voices (and two dissenting opinions) – declared that abortion in cases where the foetus has serious and irreversible birth defects […]

In the UK, the COVID crisis has only served to exacerbate the problems within a system of ad-hoc, asymmetric federalism. Put simply, the approaches in the different countries of the UK have diverged for no good reason. This blog is intended to show the inconsistencies across the UK nations, briefly contextualising this within an uneven […]

Where there is democratic backsliding, it is perhaps unsurprising that vulnerable groups, such as trans people, face particularly significant threats to their rights. Important questions surround the legality of Hungary’s recent attack on trans rights, namely Art.33 of the ‘omnibus Bill’, but this post also turns to the bigger picture of the EU’s management of […]