Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws

Wow!

Palestine Action win judicial review - Guardian report.

This is a *big* legal win.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Incredibly powerful opinion chronicling the awfulness in Whipple and the ways it interfered with the right to counsel.

One key part of the ruling (that ICE will likely appeal ASAP); Judge Brasel bars ICE from transferring anyone out of Minnesota within 72 hours of arrest.

💯 Un classique du genre chez les autocrates

Retailleau qui cible l’Etat de droit, ce n’est pas qu’un coup de com’ pour lancer sa campagne.

Chez lui & ses amis, c’est une vraie conviction visant à détruire toute limite qui bloquerait leurs idées réactionnaires. Comme les trumpistes.

D’où sa dangerosité.

Et puisqu’il faut se répéter :

Hungary’s foreign interference law draws EU adviser flag on chilling speech The central European nation's attempt to police media and NGOs could backfire, after a legal expert told the bloc's top court a new office risks overreach and breaching core freedoms.

🇭🇺⚖️🇪🇺 Some words of mine - in absolutely stellar company of i.a. @profpech.bsky.social @profkochenov.bsky.social on yesterday's AG Kokott's opinion in the Commission vs Hungary case regarding the Hungarian Sovereignty Protection Office.

www.courthousenews.com/hungarys-for...

Adding to this excellent explanation of today's AG opinion that conditionality has been the EU's most powerful tool on rule of law to date. But the problems highlighted are not new. See an earlier assessment here www.cer.eu/insights/fre...

Nice chart. Recovery money should also be recovered if CJEU agreed Commission illegally unlocked the 10.2bn 💶 as same nonsense was used to find rule of law milestones met. More broadly speaking AG Capeta’s analysis proves Comm RoL report positive picture on judicial reforms is nonsense too

Yes and another potential one may happen in MEDEL case about Poland’s rule of law milestones. In both cases, political considerations corrupted the Commission’s decision making process (not that the Council objected). One may also mention end of CVM for 🇧🇬 🇷🇴, premature closure of Art 7 re 🇵🇱, etc

Gov. Tim Walz: "They left us with deep damage. Generational trauma. Economic ruin in some cases. The left us with many unanswered questions. Where are our children? Where and what is the process of the investigation into those that were responsible for the deaths of Renee and Alex?"

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

Reminder: EP refused to sue at time of BS rule of law milestones negotiated by VDL and PiS and while EP did vote on a potential annulment action, cttee vote went against legal action by one vote if my memory doesn’t fail me. I can neither deny nor confirm that a 🇵🇱 opposition MEP may be responsible

Sounds like a good analytical framework to explain what’s being done or rather not done in respect of the rule of law situation in 🇸🇰 🇧🇬 🇷🇴 🇬🇷 🇮🇹 and 🇷🇸 to name but a few 🤌

Indirectly, AG Opinion amounts to a severe indictment of the Comm’s failure to apply for interim measures considering breadth and seriousness of multiple breaches of EU outlined in the opinion = when the Commission does - rarely - act, it does so half heartedly with ample time left for ample damage

Finally, even AG opinion endorsing claims made by Commission in respect of Orban’s soviet-style “sovereignty protection office” shows a halfhearted guardian of the Treaties at work with an irresponsible failure to ask for interim measures whereas AG does emphasise ia manifest chilling effect of law

The other case to watch in this respect is MEDEL et al as this time the VDL Commission endorsed rule of law milestones in respect of 🇵🇱 not reflecting most systemic issues, some of them also violated CJEU case law and to make it worse, compliance was found when there was none or only in part

2 important rule of law related opinions today with one by AG Capeta the most important as it more broadly concerns undue politicisation of EU’s rule of law toolbox with enforcement or lack thereof dependent on (disguised) reasons of political expediency

democracyinstitute.ceu.edu/articles/lau...

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The dissents’ positions in the end boil down to ignoring the Constitution’s separation of powers and the Court’s precedent and instead fear mongering on the basis of ex- treme hypotheticals about a future where the President “feels empowered to violate federal criminal law.” Post, at 18 (opinion of SOTOMAYOR, J.); see post, at 26, 29–30; post, at 8–9, 10, 12, 16, 20–21 (opinion of JACKSON, J.).

Every time I re-read Trump v. United States, it feels like getting hit in the head with a mallet.

Very instructive as always. Thank you

Opinion | Universities are sending Trump a dangerous message Higher education is under attack. Drop the appeasement.

"Appeasement is being coordinated while resistance is not" is exactly right. (This op-ed from Arne Duncan and David Pressman is excellent; I hope university leaders will read it.) www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Hungary's opposition Tisza promises wealth tax, euro adoption in election programme Hungary's opposition Tisza party plans to introduce a wealth tax for the rich, adopt the euro currency and firmly anchor Hungary in the European Union and NATO, its 240-page election programme publish...

With Hungary’s elections only 2 months away, let’s look at what the opposition promises when it comes to the EU, rule of law & Hungary’s alliances. Media coverage highlighted euro adoption and independence from RU energy by 2035 but there's much more in the program
www.reuters.com/business/hun...

🇵🇱 🦘 (un)constitutional tribunal latest…

JUDGE DAVIS: “.. There has been an undeniable move by the Government in the past month to defy court orders or at least to stretch the legal process to the breaking point in an attempt to deny noncitizens their due process rights.”

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

the statute that Jeanine Pirro reportedly tried to indict congressional Dems under, 18 USC 2387, was originally passed as part of the 1947 Smith Act, a notorious law used to clamp down on free speech during the Red Scare

“If you don’t want to be called a fascist regime or secret police, stop acting like one.”

Slovakia should have never left the EU’s list of backsliding countries but instead we have returned to the regular expression of concerns cycle aka all talk no action…

www.europarl.europa.eu/pdfs/news/ex...

What a joke. Time to activate rule of law toolbox & freeze eu fund in respect of 🇸🇰 was months ago but instead @ec.europa.eu and @consilium.europa.eu are happy to look the other way while serving us usual nonsense to hide inaction & bargaining chip approach
democracyinstitute.ceu.edu/articles/lau...

🇭🇺🗳️🇪🇺 Calendar alert: this Thursday will be a Hungarian day at CJEU, with two Advocate General opinions in Hungary-related cases. First up will be the AG Ćapeta in a case where the Parliament is going after the Commission over releasing funds for Hungary despite concerns over the judiciary. 1/