Latest blog articles

The ECtHR’s Satamedia judgment juxtaposes issues of data protection and freedom of expression relating to the (re-)publication of public tax data.

On 9 April 2011 a gunman killed 6 people in a shopping mall in the Dutch town of Alphen aan den Rijn. A group of victims now claims damages from the gunman’s parents, claiming that they should have prevented their son from this horrendous act. The claim will fail: on the facts of the case, there is...

May the US President appoint his son in law as advisor to the White House? For quite a lot formal appointments the President needs the advice and consent (permission) from the senate, but not here. Is it permissible? 

What works to make EU law work? Or, how can we ensure that EU law is implemented effectively in the member states? I have researched[1] this question by studying the usefulness of instruments that are meant to support national administrations in the application of EU law or that may otherwise be...

On Tuesday, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union declared the Commission’s US Safe Harbour Decision invalid. The Court’s ruling in Case C-362/14   of the Austrian Internet activist Maximillian Schrems v the Irish Data Protection Commissioner is a milestone in the...

Two weeks ago, in Case C-409/13 Council v. Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union established that the European Commission is entitled to withdraw a proposal for a legislative act where it fears that the European Parliament and the Council will amend it in a manner which would...

The senseless killings and horrific attack on a newspaper and on a shop. Of course these terrorist attacks are violations of the right to life and the freedom of expression and therefore on our democratic societies. The perpetrators wanted to instill fear and to create chaos and undo our precious...