(Jan. 17, 2020) In a series of decisions issued on December 12, 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) confirmed that the public prosecutor’s offices of France, Belgium, and Sweden could issue European arrest warrants on their own. These decisions were issued for cases C-625/19 PPU, C-627/19 PPU and, jointly, C-56ed76 6/19 […]
Topic: Criminal procedure, Due process, Extradition
(Jan. 16, 2020) On December 16, 2019, Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the Protection of Persons Who Report Breaches of Union Law (Whistleblower Directive) entered into force. A European Union (EU) directive is binding only as to the result it sets out to achieve; […]
Topic: Corruption, Fraud and financial crimes, International organizations, Money laundering, Treaties and International Agreements/European Union
(Jan. 7, 2020) On November 22, 2019, the Italian Constitutional Court declared that application of article 580 of the Penal Code penalizing assisted suicide is unconstitutional in certain circumstances. (Decision No. 242 of November 22, 2019 (the Decision) (in Italian).) Background of the Case The case was referred to the Constitutional Court by the Court of […]
Topic: Crime and law enforcement, Death and dying, Health facilities and institutions, Human rights and civil liberties, Medical personnel, Terminal care
(Jan. 2, 2020) On December 18, 2019, the New Zealand Parliament passed historic legislation that pardons Rua KÄnana, a pacifist religious prophet from the Tuhoe iwi (tribe) who was convicted in August 1916 of “moral resistance” to a police attempt to arrest him in February 1916. In April 1916, around seventy armed police officers came to the […]
Topic: Crime and law enforcement, Equal protection, Law enforcement officers, Native peoples, Protest and dissent, Racial and ethnic relations
(Dec. 30, 2019) On December 17, 2019, the Brazilian National Council of Justice (Conselho Nacional de Justiça, CNJ), a judicial agency responsible for the administrative and financial control of the judiciary and the supervision of judges, issued Resolution No. 305, which establishes the parameters for the use of social media (redes sociais) by members of […]
Topic: Hate crimes, Internet, Judges, Judicial review and appeals, Legal ethics, Social media
(Dec. 30, 2019) On November 27, 2019, the Norwegian Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of a man for aiding and abetting the gross abuse of a dependent by neglecting to protect the children from their abusive mother, and increased the sentence from two years and six months’ imprisonment to three years’ imprisonment. (Norwegian Supreme Court, […]
Topic: Appellate courts, Child abuse, Crimes against women, Criminal code, District courts, Domestic violence, Judicial review and appeals, Supreme court
(Dec. 27, 2019) On December 9, 2019, the Swedish prosecutor charged former ambassador to China, Anna Lindstedt, with “arbitrariness during negotiations with a foreign power” (egenmäktighet vid förhandling med främmande makt), for conducting secret negotiations, without prior authorization from the Swedish Foreign Ministry, with parties that represented the Chinese government’s interest in relation to the […]
Topic: Crimes against the state, Diplomatic and consular relations, Judiciary, National security
(Dec. 26, 2019) On December 11, 2019, Mexico’s House of Representatives announced that it had passed a bill proposing to grant amnesty for the commission of certain crimes, provided that applicable requirements are met. These crimes include the possession of narcotics in small quantities under a number of circumstances, such as cases in which the […]
Topic: Controlled substances, Drug trafficking, Native peoples, Organized crime and gangs, Probation and parole
(Dec. 26, 2019) On December 12, 2019, the New Zealand Parliament passed the Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill, which allows the commissioner of police to apply to the High Court for control orders to be imposed on New Zealanders who have engaged in terrorism-related activity overseas. The minister of justice, Andrew Little, stated that the Bill […]
Topic: Crime and law enforcement, Human rights and civil liberties, National security, Terrorism
(Dec. 19, 2019) On November 28, 2019, the Belgian Chamber of Representatives adopted a bill to remove the statute of limitations for “serious sexual crimes committed against minors” (délits sexuels graves commis sur des mineurs). Under articles 21 and 21bis of the current version of the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure, the statute of limitations […]
Topic: Crimes against children, Criminal procedure, Sex offenses
