Soudní novinky 15-42+43 (Ve Štrasburku bylo a bude veselo)

Omlouvám se, čilé konferencování a následné nestíhání má za důsledek spojení dvou týdnů, navíc v takové light-verzi. Polepším se.

• Pár nových neliberálních rozhodnutí malajského federálního soudu (zákaz protiislámských knih, transgender problematika, svoboda shromažďování a projevu). 
• "Families of three Bosnian Muslims who were killed after leaving UN protection in Srebrenica in 1995 asked the European Court of Human Rights to prosecute three ex-UN commanders, AFP reported. A Dutch appeals court ruled in April that Battalion commander Thom Karremans and two other officers should not be prosecuted."
• A možná se ve Štrasburku potkají i s neblahé paměti Viktorem Janukovyčem.
• A do třetice z ESLP: "The European court of human rights (ECHR) has ruled that a Turkish politician should not have been prosecuted for denying that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turkey in 1915 was a genocide." Velká věc! Arménská genocida se dle soudců zásadně liší od holokaustu. "The ECHR said it did not have the authority to rule on whether the Armenian killings were a genocide or not, which was a job for international criminal courts. (..) But it ruled that in the specific circumstances of the case, a democratic society should not have gone as far as prosecuting Perincek over his comments. “The context in which they were made had not been marked by heightened tensions or special historical overtones in Switzerland,” the ruling said. “The Swiss courts appeared to have censured Mr Perinçek simply for voicing an opinion that diverged from the established ones in Switzerland,” it added." Na fotce můžete vidět ruiny prastarého arménského města Ani na severovýchodě Turecka - na informačních tabulích se slovo "arménský" takřka nevyskytuje... 
• First the Netherlands, now Pakistan’s high court comes to defence of climate: "The high court of justice in Lahore has ordered the creation of a “climate council” to force the Pakistani state to uphold its environmental commitments. A farmer went to the court with the charge that his “fundamental rights” had been breached by the lack of action on the part of Pakistan’s climate change minister. Pakistan has been hit by three consecutive years of deadly floods. (..) This judicialisation of climate protection could spread to other countries: in Belgium a court has been considering this possibility. “We are seeing an increasing number of legal challenges because of a disappointment in the ineffectiveness of public and private commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Laurent Neyret, (..)."
• Velká indická frajeřina na více než 1000 stran: "Declaring that the judiciary cannot risk being caught in a “web of indebtedness” towards the government, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act and the 99th Constitutional Amendment which sought to give politicians and civil society a final say in the appointment of judges to the highest courts. “It is difficult to hold that the wisdom of appointment of judges can be shared with the political-executive. In India, the organic development of civil society, has not as yet sufficiently evolved. The expectation from the judiciary, to safeguard the rights of the citizens of this country, can only be ensured, by keeping it absolutely insulated and independent, from the other organs of governance,” Justice J.S. Khehar, the presiding judge on the five-judge Constitution Bench, explained in his individual judgment. (..) But interestingly, the Bench admitted that all is not well even with the collegium system of “judges appointing judges”, and that the time is ripe to improve the 21-year-old system of judicial appointments."

Hillary Clinton testifies before the Benghazi committee (LIVE)

Vice President Biden announces he will not run for President

Pozitivní rasová diskriminace na amerických univerzitách

V současnosti je v USA možné pozitivně diskriminovat na základě rasy u příjmaček na univezity jen za účelem dosažení cíle univerzity ve smyslu rozmanitosti studentů. Jen to je soudci Nejvyššího soudu USA již od 70. let považováno za důvod, kterým je možné narušit princip barvoslepé rovnosti občanů. K tomuto principu se SCOTUS letos znovu vyjádří, když bude podruhé posuzovat věc Fischer. Jak jsem na PM psal, proti tomuto argumentu nicméně existuje řada studií, které v rámci tzv. "mismatch efektu" ukazují, že i samotné menšiny, kterým má pozitivní diskriminace pomáhat, nakonec skončí s horším výsledkem v podobě menší úspěšnosti na obtížných vysokoškolských oborech, na které by se pozitivně diskriminovaní studenti jinak nedostali, a na kterých nakonec často ani neuspějí.

Jiným možným ospravedlněním pozitivní diskriminace by mohl být, a v jiných oblastech také z právního pohledu bývá, princip odčinění dřívějších křivd, kterých se bílá většina na menšinách dopustila. To sice v současnosti v oblasti přijímaček na univerzity ústavněprávně možné není, ale i tak existují zajímavé argumenty, které tímto principem nutnost pozitivní diskriminace zdůvodňují.

Jedním z proponentů tohoto argumentu je Richard Rothstein z Economic Policy Institute ve Washingtonu DC, který k tomu nedávno napsal moc zajímavý článek podpořený daty. Jádro argumentu zní v podstatě tak, že ve 20. století byly oficiální politiky státu rasově diskriminační vůči černochům, a to v oblasti podpory bydlení. Díky tomu bílá střední třída získala nemovitostní majetek, který jí pomohl na celé dekády dobudoucna, zatímco černá menšina k této pomoci státu přístup neměla. Je tedy opět na státu, aby se tyto konkrétní výhody, které v rámci rasové diskriminace ve 20. století přiznal pouze bělochům, pokusil černé menšině dodatečně odčinit a nahradit.

Níže centrální argument článku.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, the Federal Housing Administration guaranteed production loans to developers for construction of suburban subdivisions, on explicit condition that these projects be barred to otherwise-qualified black families. Nationwide, federal mortgage guarantees subsidized working- and lower-middle-class white families (many headed by returned war veterans) to flee urban neighborhoods for suburban communities whose racial exclusivity was government-enforced. Black veterans and other working families were openly denied such support, not only by prejudiced real estate agents, but by racially explicit public policy.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, these suburban homes (for example, in places like Levittown outside New York City, Lakewood outside Los Angeles, and hundreds of other communities in between) typically sold for about $125,000 (in today’s dollars) and were easily affordable to working class families. With GI-Bill mortgages (no down payment required), suburban home monthly carrying charges were often less than rent that white families had previously paid in overcrowded urban apartments, the kinds of places where black families had to remain.

Today, these same Levittown or Lakewood homes sell for $500,000 or more. The white families who settled in these places gained, over the next few generations, some $400,000 in equity appreciation. Black families, denied this opportunity by de jure segregation policy, realized no such gains. African-American median family income today is about sixty percent of white median family income, but African-American median household wealth is only five percent of white median household wealth (including home equity). Families that gain home equity appreciation over several generations have many opportunities to convert that equity into more liquid wealth that can be used, for example, to pay for children’s (or grandchildren’s) college, or perhaps to support parents in retirement, relieving children of the financial pressure to do so. For white and black families with similar middle class incomes in 2007, the wealth of black families not attributable to present home equity was only twenty-two percent of that of white families. 

Differences in family wealth thus have enduring effects on college attendance. These differences today are, to a great extent, vestiges of explicit twentieth-century federal segregation policy that violated the Fifth and Thirteenth Amendments to the Constitution. College admissions officers, ostrich-like, can favor students of all races and ethnicities whose families have little wealth for whatever reason. Such favoritism, however, is an inefficient means of remedying de jure segregation: it will round up many non-black students from low-wealth families. That is a worthy social policy goal, but is no substitute for remedying a history of state-sponsored racial injustice.

James Bond Law

Ernst Stavro Blofeld, nejslavnější padouch a protivník Jamese Bonda, a stejně tak i jeho zločinecká organizace SPECTRE, chybí ve světě agenta 007 už více než 40 let. O autorská práva k této části bondovského světa se totiž od šedesátých let soudili tvůrce Bonda Ian Fleming a jeho spolupracovník/scénárista Kevin McClory. Nakonec z toho byl nekonečný spor, který pravidelně ústil v dlouhé soudní tahanice ve Velké Británii a USA.

Spory se nicméně po padesáti letech podařilo urovnat v roce 2013, čehož výsledkem je blížící se film SPECTRE s Danielem Craigem, ve kterém hlavní roli hraje zločinecká organizace stejného jména a ústředního padoucha ztvárnil charizmatický Christopher Waltz. Proč je ale u Waltzovy role uvedeno “Franz Oberhauser” a ne Blofeld?

Víc na JP.

Soudní novinky 15-41 (Amal Clooney v. Cherie Blair)

Tentokrát je toho docela dost přes What’s New in Comparative Public Law z webu ICONnect (konkrétně odrážky 2 až 4), přiznávám, odkazuji.

• Největší věc týdne je samozřejmě Schrems (CJEU, Facebook, Safe Harbour), pro ty, kteří preferují stručnost: tisková zpráva.
• Colombian Court Rules Against Bullfighting Ban ("Colombia’s Constitutional Court overturned the ban on the grounds that it violated bullfighters’ rights to artistic expression.").
• "Croatia's Supreme Court has overturned a nine-year prison sentence and ordered a retrial for former prime minister Ivo Sanader, who was jailed for embezzling millions of euros in public funds, a spokesman said Thursday."
• "A German court (..) sentenced two Rwandan rebel leaders to long jail terms for masterminding massacres in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo from their homes in Germany."
• Amal Clooney has hit back at Cherie Blair in the latest round of their increasingly bitter legal battle over the Maldives government and its treatment of the island’s former ousted leader.
• Co čeká v novém soudním roce na americký Nejvyšší soud? Pozitivn diskriminace, antikoncepce, odbory a další lahůdky.
• Krásná animace Ann Telnaes z WashPost k novému soudnímu roku.
• Kdysi jsem zde o případu psal, nyní se ukázalo, že ani ve Španělsku soudy nejsou tak doleva, jak by se mohlo zdát: "One of the main European bottlers of the soda can proceed with a plan to downsize, ending a tense legal dispute over a shuttered bottling plant."
• Steven Mazie sice začíná konstatováním, že americký Nejvyšší soud se těší nejnižší oblibě za poslední tři dekády, aby následně soudce bránil: "Unlike members of Congress, who are under no particular obligation to justify their votes to the public, the justices prepare lengthy, carefully argued opinions explaining their decisions. A cynic might dismiss these as mere rationalizations, but the lead-up to every ruling is suffused with critical analysis of reasoned arguments. The justices certainly have their biases and predilections. But once a case is on the docket, it can be resolved only through a rigorous process that culminates in an analysis of how laws, precedents and legal traditions bear on the issue."
• "Georgia’s Constitution prohibits same-sex marriage and says the state will recognize only the union of a man and a woman as marriage and that same-sex marriages performed in others states are not legally recognized. A gay-rights group, Lambda Legal, filed a lawsuit challenging that ban. United States District Judge William Duffey on Wednesday signed an order ruling that the Supreme Court ruling means the same-sex marriage ban cannot be enforced."

Soudní novinky 15-40 (Prospektivní soudcové - hlídejte si své lajky a statusy!)

• Singapurský soud o zakazování hry na hudební nástroje během náboženského svátku: "In my judgment, the police has shown legitimate public order concerns and their measures were directed at preserving public order," he said in judgment grounds released last week. "The risk of a disruption of public order was not unreal. The connection between the music restriction and the preservation of public order was neither illogical nor unreasonable."
• French Constitutional Council Rejects Uber Appeal of Transport Law: "France's highest constitutional authority rejected Uber Technologies Inc.'s challenge of a law that bans the car-hailing service's low-cost offering Uberpop, keeping legal pressure on the firm as two top executives face trial under the law. France's Constitutional Council ruled late Tuesday that a provision of a new law passed last year that made the creation of a system like Uberpop punishable with prison time was in accordance with France's constitution. In doing so, the court rejected Uber's arguments that the law violated the principle of free enterprise and of proportional punishment and equality."
• NYT: France Opens Criminal Investigation of Torture in Syria Under Assad ("Based upon tens of thousands of harrowing photographs of torture victims taken by a Syrian defector, France’s investigation is in the early stages, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office said. It will require the discovery of a French victim, or the arrest of a Syrian official, to move forward, said the spokeswoman, Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre.")
• Olala! "EU judges have said a Dutch mayor is right to insist brothel owners can speak to the prostitutes they work with in a common language to help stop abuse." (EU court upholds prostitutes' language rights)
• David Kosař doporučuje: Orin Kerr: Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 2035 - vtipné, a děsivé.

Soudní novinky 15-39 (Brazilská soudní dobrodružství)

Pracovní týden v Berkeley přispěl ke spíše okleštěné podobně novinek (update: nakonec ani ne):

• Brazil bans corporations from political donations amid corruption scandal ("The supreme court declares rules allowing companies to donate to election campaigns – which totaled around $200m last year – were unconstitutional" (..) "Rosa Weber, one of the judges who ruled in favour of the ban, argued that undue economic influence comprised the legitimacy of the country’s elections. “The influence of economic power has ended up transforming the electoral process into a rigged political game, a despicable pantomime which makes the voter a puppet, simultaneously undermining citizenship, democracy and popular sovereignty.")

• Canada court rules women may wear veils during citizenship oath.
• Trocha bulváru: Britain CAN ditch European human rights laws, says top judge ("Britain could ditch European human rights laws because there are 'serious' social differences between the UK and countries on the continent, a top judge said yesterday. Supreme Court justice Jonathan Sumption said we should be able to adopt alternative legislation based on our own traditions and history. His comments were seen as an endorsement of Tory plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a new British Bill of Rights.")
• Dobrá zpráva... "The song "Happy Birthday To You" belongs in the public domain, a federal court judge in Los Angeles has ruled, meaning that the company collecting royalties from it no longer owns a valid copyright on the song. Up until now, Warner Chappell Music, a division of the Warner Music Group, has charged people for use of the song. It acquired the copyright—originally filed by the Clayton F Summy Co in 1935 —in 1988, according to the BBC. Until now it could not be sung on TV or radio, in films and other public performances without producers having to pay a fee."
• A je to (skoro) tu! Zatím pouze stanovisko AG: "According to Advocate General Bot, the Commission decision finding that the protection of personal data in the United States is adequate does not prevent national authorities from suspending the transfer of the data of European Facebook subscribers to servers located in the United States. The Advocate General considers furthermore that the Commission decision is invalid." Komentář Stevea Peerse zde.
• Jeffu Fisherovi ze Stanfordu se nelíbí, že američtí nejvyšší soudcové rozhodují o tom, které případy rozhodnou meritorně, zcela bez odůvodnění a za zavřenými dveřmi. Ocenil by aspoň výsledky hlasování a hlasy jednotlivých soudců (The Supreme Court’s Secret Power).
• No potěš... EU court strikes down Brussels' language regime. 
• Velké věci předvádí brazilský nejvyšší soud také v kauzách ohledně vězeňského systému: (Vanice Regina Lirio do Valle: An Unconstitutional State of Affairs in the Brazilian Prison System) "The failure of the prison system in Brazil is self-evident, and this matter has recently been brought before the Supreme Federal Court through several lawsuits, each treating different aspects of the State’s wrongful management of the issue. The Supreme Court has already decided that the Judiciary could order the Executive branch to proceed in renovating prison infrastructure so as to better accommodate the ever growing incarcerated population, despite the lack of existing budgetary provision (RG RExt 592591/RS, Justice Rapporteur Ricardo Lewandowsky). In another lawsuit, the Court is deciding whether the State can be held accountable for moral damages to inmates that are incarcerated in prisons in conditions below those necessary to preserve basic human dignity (RG RExt 580252/MS, Justice Rapporteur Teori Zavascky). The Supreme Court has also proclaimed that the Brazilian government must comply with international treaties that grant an arrested person the right to be presented before a judge no more than 24 hours after detention (ADI 5240/SP, Justice Rapporteur Luiz Fux)."

Soudní novinky 15-38 (SDEU cítí tlak doby)

Regionálně diverzifikovaný výběr:

• Brazilian Supreme Court Seriously Considering Decriminalizing Weed, All Illegal Drugs.
• Rwanda's Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a case challenging a change to the constitution that would allow President Paul Kagame to run for a third seven-year term.
• Adam Liptak: Justice Breyer Sees Value in a Global View of Law. "In a new book, Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer addresses the influence of foreign law and practices on American judicial decisions."
• EUObs: EU court curbs welfare rights "The Court of Justice in Luxembourg, on Tuesday (15 September), said host countries can stop welfare payments to people from other EU states even if they’ve spent some time working in the host country. It said if they’ve worked for less than one year, but then stop work and stop looking for work, their benefits can be stopped after six months. They can also be deported, but only after authorities assess their individual circumstances and conclude that they’re not seeking a job and have become “an unreasonable burden”."
• A trocha soudních zajímavostí z Ruska: "Something odd happened in a Moscow court on Thursday: four people were acquitted. Just how odd was this? Last year, Russian judges acquitted only four out of every thousand defendants that appeared before them. The lucky anomalies were two men and two women, aged between twenty-six and thirty-four, all of them urban skydiving enthusiasts. The court also sentenced a twenty-three-year-old roof climber to two years and three months behind bars."
• Draft text on Investment Protection and Investment Court System in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

SDEU byl aktivní, ale vzhledem k pracovní cestě do USA není čas to překlápět sem.

EK informuje

Evropská komise

Zastoupení v České republice

Tisková zpráva

Evropská komise nenavrhla omezit strukturální fondy

Praha 15. září 2015

Zastoupení Evropské komise v Praze tímto uvádí na pravou míru informace, které se dnes objevily v médiích o tom, že předseda Evropské komise Jean-Claude Juncker údajně navrhl omezit vyplácení prostředků ze strukturálních fondů těm členským zemím EU, jež odmítají návrh Evropské komise na rozdělování uprchlíků.

Předseda Evropské komise Jean-Claude Juncker toto nikdy nenavrhl, ani tak nezamýšlí učinit.

Takové opatření není možné ani právně, neboť Dohody o partnerství ani Operační programy pro současné období neobsahují právní základ, který by podobné opatření umožňoval provést.

Jinými slovy, není právně možné omezit evropské strukturální a investiční fondy v případě, že členský stát odmítá relokační mechanismus, navrhovaný Evropskou komisí.

Takové opatření by vyžadovalo změnu tzv. víceletého finančního rámce, a o tom Evropská komise v tuto chvíli neuvažuje.