Latest news with #EuropeanCourtofHumanRights
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Former DPP denied permission to prosecute Taoiseach and journalist over comments on Ian Bailey case
A lawyer who was central to the Ian Bailey case has failed in an attempt to take a private prosecution against the Taoiseach and a journalist. Robert Sheehan, while working in the Director of Public Prosecution's (DPP) office in 2001, wrote a scathing analysis of the investigation of Bailey for the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. A succession of DPPs, along with various senior counsel, repeatedly concluded that Bailey did not have a case to answer for the 1996 murder. Last Monday, Mr Sheehan applied to Dun Laoghaire District Court for permission to take the prosecution. He alleges Micheál Martin and journalist Senan Molony, who published a book on the case last year, vilified him professionally through comments and passages in the book. Last September at an event to launch Sophie: The Final Verdict, the Taoiseach asked why Bailey had not been put on trial for the murder. He said he found it 'hard to understand why the system was so convinced by its interpretations of legal principles that it effectively threw its hands in the air and gave up'. On Monday, Judge Ann Watkin refused to issue the summons against the Taoiseach saying his criticism had been of the 'system', not Mr Sheehan personally. In relation to Mr Molony, she said she would not issue a summons as the DPP had indicated that the information provided by Mr Sheehan did not disclose a criminal offence that may be put to a jury. Mr Sheehan claims passages in the book relating to him and comments by Mr Molony in public interviews amounted to harassment in its legal definition. Senan Molony has never initiated any contact with Mr Sheehan nor ever met nor spoke with him in any capacity. Mr Molony refused to comment when contacted. A spokesperson for Micheál Martin said he had no comment to make. Mr Sheehan has said he will now consider whether to appeal to the circuit court or take his case to the European Court of Human Rights. Asked why if he believed he was defamed he had not sued for damages, Mr Sheehan quoted a former chief justice who had pointed out that ordinary people cannot have access to the courts to vindicate their rights because of the cost.
Express Tribune
6 days ago
- Express Tribune
Amanda Knox responds to criticism over leaked early diary entry
Amanda Knox has responded after a private diary entry from 2007, listing her past sexual partners, resurfaced and drew renewed criticism online. The entry was written when she was 20 years old and named seven individuals, including serious partners and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. The diary had been seized by Italian authorities during the early stages of the investigation into the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher. At the time, Knox said she was falsely told she had HIV while in custody and was pressured to document her sexual history. In a July 15 post on social media, Knox addressed the criticism by confirming the accuracy of the list and providing context for why it existed. 'Yes, I slept with 7 people by age 20,' she wrote. '(3 were serious boyfriends; 1 was Raffaele.)' She emphasized that the diary was private, created under duress, and that its public release was a violation of her rights. Knox added that public reaction to the leaked entry contributed to long-standing stigma, saying she was portrayed as a 'deviant sex monster.' She clarified that her experiences were consensual and 'vanilla,' and noted that nothing was wrong with her sexuality. Knox was convicted twice in the Kercher case but was ultimately acquitted by Italy's highest court in 2015. She later won a case at the European Court of Human Rights, which found her early interrogation had violated her legal rights.
Civil.ge
6 days ago
- Politics
- Civil.ge
ECtHR Finds Georgia Violated Rights of Activists Over 2020 Firewood Arrests
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that Georgia violated the rights to fair trial and freedom of assembly in the case of two Shame Movement activists detained during the post-election protests in 2020. Two activists, Giorgi Mzhavanadze and Nodar Rukhadze, were arrested on November 9, 2020, before the start of a COVID-19 curfew, on administrative charges of petty hooliganism and disobedience to the lawful order of police. One of them reportedly tried to supply firewood to protesters near the Parliament to help them stay warm. Mzhavanadze was sent to a 3-day administrative detention, while Rukhadze was fined GEL 1,500 (about USD 550). The ECtHR found a violation of the right to a fair trial in Rukhadze's case only and a violation of the right to freedom of assembly in both cases. The applicants argued, among other things, that domestic courts gave undue weight to police officers' statements, effectively placing the burden of proof on them. They also claimed that their arrest and subsequent administrative penalties amounted to interference with their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. The ECtHR further ordered Georgia to pay Rukhadze EUR 529 for pecuniary damage and EUR 1,600 for non-pecuniary damage, and EUR 1,200 to the first applicant in respect of non-pecuniary damage. 'Maybe one day, these Strasbourg judgements will help build better police, courts, stronger human rights standards – and a better Georgia,' lawyer Eduard Marikashvili, who represented the applicants' interests before the court, wrote on social media. Also Read:
Irish Independent
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
‘It was the first time I felt the State saw me as I see myself – I finally existed': 10 years of the Gender Recognition Act
On a bright September morning in 2015, just weeks after the Gender Recognition Act was passed on July 15, history was made in Ireland, not with the fanfare of a referendum or the flash of cameras outside Leinster House, but with something far more quietly radical. For the first time, transgender people in Ireland could legally self-declare their gender identity, without the need for medical intervention, psychiatric diagnosis, or court proceedings. This marked a transformative moment, both legally and culturally, for a community long marginalised and misunderstood. The road to that moment was neither short nor easy. It was paved by decades of advocacy, persistence, and personal sacrifice. At the heart of the campaign was Lydia Foy, a retired dentist from Athy, Co Kildare, who fought the Irish State for nearly two decades in an effort to have her gender legally recognised. In 1997, she first brought her case to the High Court after being denied a birth certificate reflecting her gender identity. What followed was a legal saga spanning 18 years, during which Ireland was repeatedly found to be in breach of its human rights obligations by the European Court of Human Rights and its own courts. Dr Foy's tenacity, coupled with tireless campaigning by organisations like Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI), BeLonG To, and Amnesty International Ireland, forced lawmakers to confront an uncomfortable truth: Ireland had failed its trans citizens. When the act was finally signed into law in July 2015, just two months after the country became the first in the world to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote, it was seen by many as a further sign of an Ireland on the cusp of meaningful social transformation. Since 2015, over 1,100 gender recognition certificates have been issued in Ireland. For many, the law has meant access to correct documentation — a passport, a driver's licence, a birth certificate — that affirms rather than misgenders. Yet for others, especially non-binary people and trans youth, the act has remained a symbol of progress unfinished. It wasn't until 2023 that the Irish Government began formally recognising non-binary identities in state documentation, and young trans people under 16 still face significant barriers to legal recognition. Campaigners continue to call for amendments that reflect the full spectrum of gender diversity, and for broader societal changes that extend beyond legal frameworks — in healthcare access, education, employment, and public life. The last decade has also seen a sharp increase in anti-trans rhetoric, fuelled in part by social media and global culture wars. In that climate, the 2015 act stands as both a milestone and a mirror, reflecting the best of what Ireland can be when it leads with compassion, and the distance that still lies ahead. Ten years on, how has that legislation held up against the lived realities of those it was meant to empower?
eNCA
12-07-2025
- Sport
- eNCA
Semenya's legal team to consider options following victory at European court of Human Rights
JOHANNESBURG - Caster Semenya's legal team is considering the way forward for the two-time Olympic Champion. READ: Caster Semenya | Semenya's right to a fair hearing violated This follows a European Court of Human Rights ruling which said Semenya was unfairly treated in her case against World Athletics at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Upon his return from France, Semenya's lawyer spoke exclusively to eNCA's Thabiso Sithole about the journey they've travelled to get justice.
