Europe

[Francisco Javier Rozas Porras is a Spanish lawyer and PhD researcher in international law of the sea at the DEHUKAM Institute / Ankara University. He holds an LL.M. in Maritime Law from ICADE University in Madrid, Spain.] Introduction In 2026, Spain’s migration policy features a striking paradox. The Government has launched one of the most ambitious regularization processes in Europe on land,...

[Natia Navrouzov is a lawyer and the Executive Director of Yazda, a global Yazidi organisation that has documented ISIL’s crimes since 2014 and supports survivors of the Yazidi genocide through legal, psychosocial, and advocacy work] On 20 March 2026, the Paris Assize Court convicted Sabri Essid of genocide and crimes against humanity for atrocities committed against the Yazidi community in Iraq....

[Aldo Zammit Borda is a Professor at The City Law School, City St George's, University of London. Stefan Mandelbaum is a Lecturer at Leicester Law School, University of Leicester. Andrea Maria Pelliconi is a Lecturer in Human Rights Law at the University of Southampton.] The ICJ’s 2012 judgment in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening) has been read from...

[José Enrique Conde Belmonte is a Professor of Public International Law and European Union Law at the Complutense University of Madrid. He writes here in a personal academic capacity.] On 30 July 2026, roughly 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish city of Ceuta — population 84,000 — in under forty-eight hours, most of them by sea around the Tarajal...

[Yaroslav Halieiev is a second-year PhD Candidate at the University of Tartu (Estonia)] The Context: Maymulakhin and Markiv v. Ukraine  In June 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or Court) issued a landmark decision in the case of Maymulakhin and Markiv v. Ukraine in which the Court addressed the lack of legal protection for same-sex couples under Ukrainian law. Rooting...

[Dr. Eray Acar is an independent researcher with a PhD in public law from Ankara University. He has worked as a researcher in Ankara University Law School and as a lecturer at Hitit University.] The Steering Committee for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CDDH/Steering Committee) published an Outcome Document containing elements for a political declaration, which is expected to...

[Anna Maria Puigderrajols Triadó is a PhD candidate at the Europa Institute of Leiden University, where she previously completed the Advanced LL.M. in European and International Human Rights Law.] On Wednesday 26 March 2026, two days after the International Day for the Right to Truth, and more than fifty years since the fall of the Franco Regime, Spain has finally created...

[Hakan Kaplankaya is a former Turkish diplomat, lawyer and instituDE member] On 16 December 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR” or “the Court”) found violations of Articles 7 and/or 6 § 1 of the Convention in respect of 2,420 applications in Yalçınkaya follow-up cases. The applicants are (perceived) members of the Gülen Group, which has been targeted by the...

[Eva Kassoti is a senior researcher in EU and international law at T.M.C. Asser Institute, and academic co-ordinator of CLEER] By its order of 5 September 2025, the General Court (GC) of the Court of Justice of The European Union dismissed an action brought by the Association of Jurists for Respect for International Law (JURDI) against the Council and the Commission...

[Ruby Axelson is the Head of Gender and Child Justice at Global Rights Compliance. Tobias Freeman is a senior lawyer working with Global Rights Compliance in Ukraine and member of the IHL Centre's Expert Group on Inclusion. Danielle DerOhannesian is an international lawyer and former prosecutor specialising in child justice and trauma‑informed accountability for conflict‑related crimes against and affecting children.  Mykola Palamar is...

[Nina Keese and Dr. Beril Önder are members of the legal team of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, a Middlesex University School of Law–based initiative focused on strategic litigation, research, and advocacy] This post has been translated into Turkish and published on Kaos GL. Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL) v. Türkiye (App. nos. 27507/23...

[Anna Maria Puigderrajols Triadó is a PhD candidate at the Europa Law Institute of Leiden University, where she previously completed the Advanced LL.M. in European and international human rights law] In July 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in its landmark judgement in Ukraine and the Netherlands v Russia, was given a unique opportunity to deal with the...