Title: Newsletter n. 1: A new instrument for the protection of fundamental rights in Europe

Date: 01/15/2010

Text: A new instrument for the protection of fundamental rights in Europe The Lelio and Lisli Basso–Issoco Fondazione (Fondazione Basso), located in Rome, together with the Centre for inter-departmental research on European Community law based at the University of Bologna (CIRDCE) and the Association of European Judges and Public Prosecutors for Democracy and Fundamental Rights located in Strasbourg (MEDEL) have set up an Observatory on the respect of fundamental rights in Europe. The Observatory intends to monitor and assess fundamental rights judgments by courts in Europe. Reasons and objectives The idea arose following some studies on national and European case-law following the drafting of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union (the Nice Charter) and a Conference on this subject , during which it emerged that there is no forum for justice practitioners and scholars in Europe to discuss developments in Community case-law, its effects on domestic case-law and on the final level of protection of fundamental rights in the complex "multi-level" system that has grown in recent decades in Europe. The protection of fundamental rights affects three levels of legal order in European countries - national law, community law and international law - which intersect and integrate in various ways. The Observatory is intended to help meet various requirements: the need to compare and refine interpretative techniques appropriate to this multi-level protection of rights; the need to consolidate the defence of fundamental human rights in Europe; the need to construct a common legal culture that can help establish a "European legal space". The Observatory's activities will comprise: 1. Monitoring the case-law of the European Courts on the subject of fundamental rights and the effects of such case-law on the decisions of national Courts: 2. Comparison and debate on this jurisprudence with particular attention on the analysis of innovative interpretations of fundamental rights, on the "dialogue" between the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, on the anomalous legal value of the Nice Charter and on the use of its provisions by the Courts; 3. Examination of the main European provisions with reference to the protection of fundamental rights, also with a view to formulating observations during the process of legislative drafting; 4. Creation of a permanent relationship with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. The website An essential tool of the Observatory will be our website www.europeanrights.eu, which will be in three languages - French, English and Italian - and which will be updated regularly. The information on the website will allow users to find and consult: - EU legislation and other provisions issued by the EU or the Council of Europe regarding the protection of fundamental rights; - the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the decisions of national courts which apply EC law relating to fundamental rights; - articles, law reports and commentaries on themes related to the above. The information is ordered on the basis of the rights enshrined in the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union (Nice Charter) and the headwords are based on the Charter itself. The content of every document included is summarised, while a more detailed comment is provided in the leading cases. Users will therefore be able to easily reconstruct how the legal framework is developing in relation to each right. The content of each document is available in the website's three languages. Documents will be posted in their original languages. The decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are not included on the site, since they can be easily accessed through the Court's official website. The authors Elena Paciotti, President of the Fondazione Basso, will be in charge of the project and the website. Editors and others who have helped to launch the project include Valentina Bazzocchi, Cristiana Bianco, Giacinto Bisogni, Giuseppe Bronzini, Francesco Clementi, Diletta De Blasi, Luca De Matteis, Isabella Lucati, Vito Monetti, Mauro Palma, Federico Petrangeli, Valeria Piccone, Giovanni Salvi, Giulia Tiberi (their respective positions are described on the website). The scientific committee is made up of emeritus professors Valerio Onida and Stefano Rodotà, professors Marzia Barbera of the University of Brescia, Marta Cartabia of the University of Milano-Bicocca, Alfonso Celotto of the University of Roma3, Silvio Gambino of the University of Cosenza, Stefano Giubboni of the University of Florence, Cesare Pinelli of the University of Macerata, Lucia Serena Rossi of the University of Bologna, Silvana Sciarra University of Florence, Antonio Tizzano, a judge of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and Vladimiro Zagrebelsky, a judge of the European Court of Human Rights. The newsletter A newsletter will be published every two months and mailed to all organisations supporting the Observatory. It will provide news of the main new developments and of related academic papers published in the preceding months. Our first newsletter provides news not only of the creation of the Observatory and the launch of the website, but also of the first documents gathered. They comprise: - European Union laws and regulations: we include all key documents since November 2006 such as the Regulation setting up the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the Report approved by the European Parliament "on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners". - Case-law of the European Court of Justice: includes all key documents starting from December 2006. - Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights: listed are all key decisions starting from January 2007, as well as two issued in 2006 which make reference to the Nice Charter. Annotated reports of all decisions delivered in 2006 are already published on the European Court's official website. - Case-law of the national courts, as well as a decision by the Spanish Supreme Court of 2006, focusing in this initial phase mainly on case-law from the Italian Courts. And so they include the key judgments by the Italian Constitutional Court in 2006, some decisions by the Court of Cassation in 2006 and January 2007, as well as some decisions by the Courts in 2006. Commentaries include some brief articles on interpretative approaches in judicial decisions: - G. Bronzini and V. Piccone "Nuovi impulsi della Corte di Giustizia alla giurisprudenza ordinaria"; - M. Carmona Ruano "Aplicaciòn de la Carta de derechos fundamentales en la Uniòn europea por la Jurisprudencia espanola"; - J. Igreia Matos "Aplicaçao pelos Tribunais Superiores portugueses dos principios inerentes à Carta dos Derechos Funtamentais da Uniao Europeia" - O. Pollicino "Corti dell'Est, diritti fondamentali e ordinamento comunitario: un debutto in chiaroscuro" - L. De Matteis "Resta irrisolto il problema dell'efficacia in Italia delle sentenze della Corte europea dei diritti dell'uomo" - G .Canivet, « Discours prononcé à l'audience solennelle de rentrée, le 8 janvier 2007 ». We have also included some brief general observations by E.De Capitani on "Droits fondamentaux et terrorisme: les Nations Unies, l'Union européenne et les USA". A new instrument for the protection of fundamental rights in Europe The Lelio and Lisli Basso–Issoco Fondazione (Fondazione Basso), located in Rome, together with the Centre for inter-departmental research on European Community law based at the University of Bologna (CIRDCE) and the Association of European Judges and Public Prosecutors for Democracy and Fundamental Rights in Strasbourg (MEDEL) have set up an Observatory on the respect of fundamental rights in Europe. The Observatory intends to monitor and assess fundamental rights judgments by courts in Europe. Reasons and objectives The idea arose following some studies on national and European case-law following the drafting of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union (the Nice Charter) and a Conference on this subject , during which it emerged that there is no forum for justice practitioners and scholars in Europe to discuss developments in Community case-law, its effects on domestic case-law and on the final level of protection of fundamental rights in the complex "multi-level" system that has grown in recent decades in Europe. The protection of fundamental rights affects three levels of legal order in European countries - national law, community law and international law - which intersect and integrate in various ways. The Observatory is intended to help meet various requirements: the need to compare and refine interpretative techniques appropriate to this multi-level protection of rights; the need to consolidate the defence of fundamental human rights in Europe; the need to construct a common legal culture that can help establish a "European legal space". The Observatory's activities will comprise: 1. Monitoring the case-law of the European Courts on the subject of fundamental rights and the effects of such case-law on the decisions of national Courts: 2. Comparison and debate on this jurisprudence with particular attention on the analysis of innovative interpretations of fundamental rights, on the "dialogue" between the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, on the anomalous legal value of the Nice Charter and on the use of its provisions by the Courts; 3. Examination of the main European provisions with reference to the protection of fundamental rights, also with a view to formulating observations during the process of legislative drafting; 4. Creation of a permanent relationship with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. The website An essential tool of the Observatory will be our website www.europeanrights.eu, which will be in three languages - French, English and Italian - and which will be updated regularly. The information on the website will allow users to find and consult: - EU legislation and other provisions issued by the EU or the Council of Europe regarding the protection of fundamental rights; - the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the decisions of national courts which apply EC law relating to fundamental rights; - articles, law reports and commentaries on themes related to the above. The information is ordered on the basis of the rights enshrined in the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union (Nice Charter) and the headwords are based on the Charter itself. The content of every document included is summarised, while a more detailed comment is provided in the leading cases. Users will therefore be able to easily reconstruct how the legal framework is developing in relation to each right. The content of each document is available in the website's three languages. Documents will be posted in their original languages. The decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are not included on the site, since they can be easily accessed through the Court's official website. The authors Elena Paciotti, President of the Fondazione Basso, will be in charge of the project and the website. Editors and others who have helped to launch the project include Valentina Bazzocchi, Cristiana Bianco, Giacinto Bisogni, Giuseppe Bronzini, Francesco Clementi, Diletta De Blasi, Luca De Matteis, Isabella Lucati, Vito Monetti, Mauro Palma, Federico Petrangeli, Valeria Piccone, Giovanni Salvi, Giulia Tiberi (their respective positions are described on the website). The scientific committee is made up of emeritus professors Valerio Onida and Stefano Rodotà, professors Marzia Barbera of the University of Brescia, Marta Cartabia of the University of Milano-Bicocca, Alfonso Celotto of the University of Roma3, Silvio Gambino of the University of Cosenza, Stefano Giubboni of the University of Florence, Cesare Pinelli of the University of Macerata, Lucia Serena Rossi of the University of Bologna, Silvana Sciarra University of Florence, Antonio Tizzano, a judge of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and Vladimiro Zagrebelsky, a judge of the European Court of Human Rights. The newsletter A newsletter will be published every two months and mailed to all organisations supporting the Observatory. It will provide news of the main new developments and of related academic papers published in the preceding months. Our first newsletter provides news not only of the creation of the Observatory and the launch of the website, but also of the first documents gathered. They comprise: - European Union laws and regulations: we include all key documents since November 2006 such as the Regulation setting up the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the Report approved by the European Parliament "on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners". - Case-law of the European Court of Justice: includes all key documents starting from December 2006. - Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights: listed are all key decisions starting from January 2007, as well as two issued in 2006 which make reference to the Nice Charter. Annotated reports of all decisions delivered in 2006 are already published on the European Court's official website. - Case-law of the national courts, as well as a decision by the Spanish Supreme Court of 2006, focusing in this initial phase mainly on case-law from the Italian Courts. And so they include the key judgments by the Italian Constitutional Court in 2006, some decisions by the Court of Cassation in 2006 and January 2007, as well as some decisions by the Courts in 2006. Commentaries include some brief articles on interpretative approaches in judicial decisions: - G. Bronzini and V. Piccone "Nuovi impulsi della Corte di Giustizia alla giurisprudenza ordinaria"; - M. Carmona Ruano "Aplicaciòn de la Carta de derechos fundamentales en la Uniòn europea por la Jurisprudencia espanola"; - J. Igreia Matos "Aplicaçao pelos Tribunais Superiores portugueses dos principios inerentes à Carta dos Derechos Funtamentais da Uniao Europeia" - O. Pollicino "Corti dell'Est, diritti fondamentali e ordinamento comunitario: un debutto in chiaroscuro" - L. De Matteis "Resta irrisolto il problema dell'efficacia in Italia delle sentenze della Corte europea dei diritti dell'uomo" - G .Canivet, « Discours prononcé à l'audience solennelle de rentrée, le 8 janvier 2007 ». We have also included some brief general observations by E.De Capitani on "Droits fondamentaux et terrorisme: les Nations Unies, l'Union européenne et les USA".

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