The absolute prohibition of torture is an unconditional and immeasurably important idea of modern constitutionalism and international human rights law. It is not merely a norm enshrined in Article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, but also the philosophical foundation of the functioning of the modern state: a…
Category: Europe
Toth and Crișan v. Romania: Defining the Limits of Police Officers’ Privacy in the Age of Facebook
On 8 April 2016, two local police officers in Oradea fined a woman and her mother for leaving household waste beside the wrong bin. Within hours, the incident had left the street and entered a Facebook group with more than 24,000 members. Nine years later, the European Court of Human Rights has used that ordinary,…
The Use of Sound Weapons Against Peaceful Demonstrators as a Threat to Human Rights and a Factor Undermining Trust in the Police (Đorović and Others v. Serbia)
On 15 March 2025, Belgrade saw one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in Serbia’s recent history, the culmination of a protest movement that had been building for months after the collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024, in which people died. Students and a significant part of…
“No Face, No Responsibility? International Standards for Identifying Officials and the Practice of Mobilisation Detentions
In contemporary Ukrainian public discourse, the issue of actual detentions and the use of physical force by employees of territorial recruitment and social support centers (hereinafter referred to as TRC) against men in the process of mobilisation measures is increasingly being raised. As evidenced by numerous videos recorded by eyewitnesses, TRC employees systematically conceal their…
Major Raid Targets Human Trafficking and Tax Evasion Network in Germany
On November 13, 2025, German authorities conducted a major coordinated raid targeting a suspected human trafficking and tax evasion network, deploying between 600 and 700 law enforcement personnel across multiple locations in Baden-Württemberg and Berlin. The operation, which has now concluded, involved customs officers, federal police, and tax investigators working in concert, according to the…
Human Intelligence Workshop Enhances Intelligence-Led Policing Capabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Representatives from ten cantonal police administrations, ministries of interior, and the Federal Police Administration gathered in Sarajevo for a workshop organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mission) to enhance their capacity in applying intelligence-led policing (ILP). The training focused on human intelligence (HUMINT), the collection of intelligence from human sources, as a…
Europol: 54 Individuals Arrested in Action Against Labour Exploitation
Over the last weeks, law enforcement, border guards and labour and tax authorities across Europe joined forces to identify and tackle labour exploitation. This recent edition of the EMPACT Joint Action Days targeted trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation purposes, with a special emphasis on the agricultural sector, gastronomy, and temporary work agencies. In…
Wartime Crisis Mode: The Impact of Russia’s Aggression on the System of Social Control in Ukraine. Presentation of the Monograph
On 28 November 2025, there will be a presentation of the monograph “Wartime Crisis Mode: The Impact of Russia’s Aggression on the System of Social Control in Ukraine (Crime, Institutes, and Trust in Criminal Justice)” We cordially invite all experts in the fields of criminal law, criminology, sociology, political science, and other areas and disciplines…