Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact
  • Home /
  • News /
  • 2016 /
  • March /
  • EU: Proposed new counter-terrorism law: Joint NGO critique

EU: Proposed new counter-terrorism law: Joint NGO critique

05 March 2016

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

"In this submission, Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), and the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and the Open Society European Policy Institute (OSEPI) analyse and offer recommendations on the European Commission’s December 2015 proposal for a Directive on Combating Terrorism and Replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA on Combating Terrorism (“the proposed Directive”) in light of Member States’ obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law...

This submission seeks to specifically address:

  • The failure to provide sufficient guarantees of human rights protection in the implementation of the Directive by Member States;
  • The overbroad scope and vague delineation of many of the offences to be established under the Directive, with consequences for the principle of legality and the prohibitions on arbitrary, disproportionate and discriminatory interference with human rights;
  • The designation of ancillary and inchoate offences with a low degree of proximity to the principal offence of commission of a terrorism-related act;
  • The imprecise definition of the specific intent required to incur responsibility for a number of offences and lack of requirements for wilful or voluntary conduct;
  • The potential of the Directive to undermine states’ obligations under international humanitarian law and international criminal law, where those regimes are applicable."

    See the full text: Joint NGO critique (pdf)

    Our work is only possible with your support.
    Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

    •  Previous article

    EU: Council questioned over CIA rendition programme

    Next article 

    EU: Refugee crisis: NATO Secretary General welcomes expansion of NATO deployment in the Aegean Sea

     

    Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

    Report error

    Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

    About | Contact | Privacy Policy