2020

Launched in 1999 and updated regularly, Statewatch News includes our own reporting and writing as well as articles, announcements, documents and analyses from elsewhere on civil liberties, EU policies and state practices. You can receive updates in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list, or use an RSS feed to get instant alerts.

05 June 2020

Project Interoperability: EU to pay 300 million EUR for face and fingerprint recognition

As part of the EU's 'interoperability' initiative that will interconnect a host of policing, migration and judicial cooperation databases, a new contract to build the 'shared Biometric Matching System' (sBMS) has just been signed.

04 June 2020

Responses across the UK and Europe to the death of George Floyd

A round-up of protests in the UK and Europe, by the Institute of Race Relations.

04 June 2020

George Floyd death: Thousands join UK protests

Thousands of people have attended protests in cities and towns across the UK in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, USA.

04 June 2020

UK: Rights groups demand change to fix unfair policing of lockdown

Data on the policing powers exercised under the pandemic lockdown show that black and ethnic minority people are 56% more likely to be fined than white people. Rights groups are calling for change.

02 June 2020

EU: Migration: overstay caused by COVID-19 pandemic should not be considered illegal, says Commission

The Commission encourages Member States not to consider as illegal stay in the EU the periods of stay of third-country nationals in a Member State caused by Covid-related measures

02 June 2020

Illegal floating prisons by Carla Camilleri

"We need to ask ourselves why Malta still operates migration through management-by-crisis, without long-term vision or contingency plans for emergencies and instead chooses to use human lives as pawns in a bid to find a solution to a global crisis"

02 June 2020

Politically-motivated crimes in Germany at second-highest level since 2001

There were around 41,000 politically-motivated crimes in Germany in 2019, a rise of about 14% on the previous year. Over half were carried out by right-wing individuals or groups.

01 June 2020

Michel Barnier says EU is open to Brexit delay of up to two years

The EU is open to a Brexit delay of up to two years, the bloc's chief negotiator has informed all UK political parties but the government Conservative Party.

27 May 2020

EU-UK: Commission not happy with UK's 'action plan' to fix unlawful use of Schengen database

The European Commission has condemned a UK action plan to remedy its mismanagement and misuse of the Schengen Information System as "not adequate... mainly because the implementation timelines of at least 10 of the recommendations are very lengthy and cannot be considered acceptable."

27 May 2020

EU: Increase in cumulative charges for terrorism and war crimes

A report from Eurojust, the EU's judicial cooperation agency, highlights the increasing use of "cumulative" charges against foreign terrorist fighters.

27 May 2020

COVID-19 and the justice system in Europe: lawyers' association sounds the alarm

The pandemic is taking its toll upon the criminal justice system in EU member states, according to the CCBE.

26 May 2020

UN joint guidance on ensuring migrants' rights during the COVID-19 pandemic

A note from the UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.

26 May 2020

The dismal UK Home Office response to coronavirus: the wider picture

"We've learned that closeness does not mean contact, so I hope that this can count as a Letter from Afar even if afar seems a strangely 19th-century way of talking about the distance between Newport and Bristol. I wanted to share with you some of my reflections on the UK Home Offices response to coronavirus and what it means for migrants and asylum seekers.

26 May 2020

Racial discrimination in education and EU equality law

A report by the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination.

25 May 2020

First victory against French police drones

French rights group La Quadrature du Net have won a court case against the Parisian police's use of drones to try to enforce the coronavirus lockdown.

22 May 2020

UK: BAME people fined more than white population under coronavirus laws

An investigation has found that racial disparities in the application of laws to enforce the coronavirus lockdown.

20 May 2020

Greece: Tents at Sea: How Greek Officials Use Rescue Equipment for Illegal Deportations

An exposé of the Greek authorities' use of rescue tents to leave refugees floating at sea after interception.

20 May 2020

Hungary: No more transit zones, now asylum seekers will have to apply abroad

The Hungarian authorities have responded to a CJEU ruling declaring that the detention of asylum-seekers in 'transit zones' was illegal by announcing a plan to enforce all asylum-seekers to present their requests from protection at Hungarian consulates.

 

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