Certain legislative measures taken in 2015 have worried human rights observers, who regard them as a direct threat to civil rights. The new British Immigration Act has been widely criticised as discriminatory, along with the proposed measures to deal with unemployment among young adults, 50 % of whom are national minorities. Counter terrorism laws in several countries have been criticised for excessive surveillance and encroaching on the private life of citizens. Amendments to the Integration Act in the Netherlands have introduced compulsory exams for immigrants that can be regarded as insulting to religious feelings and secular traditions of some countries.
Several legislative measures in 2015 have been aimed at liberalising LGBT relations as part of the general EU policy protecting LGBT rights. On December 22, 2015, Greece finally recognised civil partnerships among same-sex couples. The new law, supported by the SYRIZA party, allows same-sex couples to enjoy some of the same rights as traditional married couples, such as medical proxy and the right to inheritance. On the other hand, transgender people are still excluded from these rights. Greece had also abolished the obsolete provision that prohibited “unnatural indecency” in public (Art. 347 of the Criminal Code). On the same day, Greek parliament started working on a law that would recognise gender self-identification.
The Netherlands, where same-sex marriage has been legal for several years, adopted two new legislative acts in 2015, which provided certain rights to the transgender people and provided the right to adoption for lesbian couples.[49]
Meanwhile, Poland rejected a bill on civil partnerships (May 26, 2015). 215 out of 385 members of parliament have voted against the proposition, 146 voted in favour and 24 abstained from voting.[50]
LGBT rights is still an issue in countries like Northern Ireland, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Ukraine. Therefore, it can be concluded that countries with more widespread Christian traditions are more socially conservative and are not yet prepared to accept new western trends.
2. law enforcement practice
Law enforcement practice is influenced not only by the legislative norms concerning minorities, but also by the level of professionalism and personal views among law enforcement officers. In 2015, law enforcement practices aimed at combating hate crime, discrimination, and radicalism revolved around the following priorities:
– Prevention of extremist activity.
– Combating illegal immigration and establishment of infrastructure for refugees.
– Combating xenophobia and racism, ensuring peaceful inter-ethnic relations.
– Integration of refugees and Roma (travellers).
Often, progress in one area had led to deficits in another. For example, measures of terrorism prevention often encroached on minority rights, while measures against illegal immigration violated the rights of asylum seekers.
Following a wave of terrorist attacks, Europe adopted a series of counter terrorism laws in 2015, which resulted in a wave of repressions against persons suspected of extremist activity. In January 2016, French President Francois Hollande reported that in 12 months, French security services have prohibited 200 people from leaving the country and 50 people have been denied entry on suspicion of links to extremist groups. From November 2015, when a state of emergency was introduced across the country until mid-January 2016, French police had carried out 3,336 administrative searches, 290 people have been placed under house arrest, and 344 people have been arrested.[51]
British, German, and Italian law enforcements were following similar policies in 2015, albeit not as strict.
These measures have sometimes impacted law-abiding citizens. Human rights observers note that most cases are related to national or religious minorities that were suspected of links to the so-called Islamic State (ISIS). One of the most notable cases occurred in the United Kingdom, which had recently adopted a 2015 Counter Terrorism and Security Act that places a statutory duty on schools and colleges to prevent people being drawn into terrorism.[52] There, a 10-year-old Muslim boy who misspelled a word during an English lesson, wrote that he lived in a “terrorist house.” The primary school pupil meant to write that he lived in a “terraced house”, but this did not stop the police carrying out a thorough search of the house and examining the family computer. Both police and social services had carried out extensive interviews with the boy to establish whether or not his family has any ties with extremist organisations.[53] Another Muslim schoolboy was questioned about Islamic State after the 14-year-old used the term “ecoterrorism” during a classroom discussion about environmental activism.[54] In another ironic incident, Muslim postgraduate student of counter-terrorism, Mohammed Umar Farooq, was falsely accused of being a terrorist after an official at Staffordshire University had spotted him reading a textbook entitled Terrorism Studies in the college library. According to his own accounts, he was questioned about attitudes towards homosexuality, Islamic State, and al-Qaida.[55]
Примечания
1
http://www.iuscomp.org/gla/statutes/StGB.htm
2
https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2015/kw12_de_nsu/364372
3
Italy is the only country under review that, over the past 10 years, has reduced the punishment for hate crime from 3 to 1.5 years, setting the maximum fine of 6,000 euros for racial discrimination or hate speech (Law N 85/2006).
4
http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr/index.php?sec=194&cid=3834
5
Official title: Law “On introducing amendments to Article 148 of the Russian Criminal Code and several legislative acts in order to combat insults of religious beliefs and feelings of citizens”.
6
http://www.rg.ru/2013/06/30/zashita-site-dok.html
7
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000026809719&categorieLien=id
8
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000029754374&categorieLien=id
9
Loi n° 2015-912 du 24 juillet 2015 relative au renseignement, https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000030931899&categorieLien=id
10
Décision n° 2015-713 DC du 23 juillet 2015 – Loi relative au renseignement, http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/acces-par-date/decisions-depuis-1959/2015/2015-713-dc/communique-de-presse.144139.html
11
http://statewatch.org/news/2015/jul/germany-terror-laws.html
12
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2014-2015/0127/en/15127en.htm
13
http://www.nctv.nl/onderwerpen/tb/actieprogramma-integrale-aanpak-jihadisme/
14
http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/files/ru/Q7t146BkLNBDUXEsAPvOdb44JdrQPQPt.pdf
15
http://base.garant.ru/71001234/#ixzz3iUYmRMdT
16
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-registers-sharp-increase-in-attacks-on-asylumseekers-a-1045207.html
17
https://www.hrw.org/ru/world-report/2016/country-chapters/286136#383e61
18
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/49417
19
http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2015/october/immigration-bill-commons-second-reading/
20
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2015/09/immigration-bill-2015-what-you-need-know
21
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/17/unemployed-young-people-work-boot-camp-tory-minister