On 13 December 2019 the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court held that a national provision that renders a father’s entitlement to parental benefits during a shared period of leave dependent on the mother’s situation, but not vice versa, fell outside the scope of Directive 2006/54/EC (the Equal Treatment Directive) since it did not concern “employment and working conditions” within the meaning of Article 14(1)(c) of that Directive. The action brought by the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) was thus dismissed. The Court consequently did not consider whether the Norwegian rules amounted to unlawful discrimination under the Directive. Furthermore, no assessment was made as to the potential breach with the general principle of equality of gender under EEA law, as this had not been pleaded by ESA.

Article 20(2) of Regulation No 883/2004 does not preclude the insured person’s Member State of residence from refusing to grant that person the authorisation provided for in Article 20(1) of that regulation, where hospital care is available in that Member State but the treatment used is contrary to that person’s religious beliefs.

Article 5(5) of Directive 2008/104 does not impose specific measures on Member States, but it does require that they take certain measures to reach its aim.

This case involved an employee who claimed that he was unfairly dismissed for using a trade union to bring a grievance over measures his employer had taken on account of the coronavirus pandemic. The Employment Tribunal (ET) found that he was likely to be able to show at the full hearing of the case that this was an automatically unfair dismissal on grounds of his trade union membership or activities. It awarded the remedy of ‘interim relief’, ordering the employer immediately to reinstate him pending the full trial of the matter. The ET’s decision might signal a potential rise in claims for interim relief in future cases.

A national collective agreement may reserve to mothers alone an additional maternity leave, as long as it seeks to protect them from the effects of pregnancy and motherhood.

No breach of diplomat’s rights when she was recalled from a post abroad because she was pregnant.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to expose obsolete business practices and force companies into uncharted territories, a disruption worth (re)considering for companies is to replace their over-reliance on litigation with mediation. In order for mediators to make this transition more appetising for businesses, we must train mediators to: 1) think more holistically through interdisciplinary training; and 2) foster cognitive diversity amongst our pool.

In this article, a roadmap is proposed for both individual growth and eventual maturation of an organisation as regards how conflict is dealt with. Much can be achieved within organisations when the individuals who work there succeed in discovering and deploying their potential in order to deal with conflict in a mature manner.
An organisation is a compilation of individuals and the overall culture of the organisation is, ultimately, determined by the collective wisdom of the people that form it, when it comes to dealing with conflict and related difficulties. The authors of this article propose a shared view to unearth the potential of an individual working in an organisation to creatively and proactively manage conflict, thereby opening a corporate portal that empowers the adoption of beneficial solutions in response to disarming and preventing difficult organisational situations.
In Part II, the authors will show how managers can develop themselves in management styles embedded in the Evolution System to support individuals and the organisation in their development to maturation.

In this article, a roadmap is proposed for both individual growth and eventual maturation of an organisation as regards how conflict is dealt with. Much can be achieved within organisations when the individuals who work there succeed in discovering and deploying their potential in order to deal with conflict in a mature manner.
An organisation is a compilation of individuals and the overall culture of the organisation is, ultimately, determined by the collective wisdom of the people that form it, when it comes to dealing with conflict and related difficulties. The authors of this article propose a shared view to unearth the potential of an individual working in an organisation to creatively and proactively manage conflict, thereby opening a corporate portal that empowers the adoption of beneficial solutions in response to disarming and preventing difficult organisational situations.
In Part I, the authors will discuss the transformation of the fear-based ego to clear a pathway for development to maturation of individuals and the overall culture of an organisation, following a multidimensional three-step Evolution System.

In entrenched conflict cases, mediation participants display a contradictory approach. They fail to take responsibility for their part in mediation and do not engage constructively in negotiations, whilst asserting a justificatory narrative for their behaviour. Usually they blame the other disputant, make excuses based on extraneous factors or even assert that the mediator is to blame for the lack of progress in mediation. In many entrenched conflict cases, there is no genuine commitment to negotiation at all on the part of the entrenched disputant. They are simply keen to present their case with an expectation that everyone else will fall into line with their demands. When entrenched conflict manifests, mediation is often being used as a forum for psychological game playing. Entrenched disputants tend to have a ‘win at all costs’ perspective. In some entrenched cases, mediation is simply being used as a tactic, with a view to fighting the case in court. In such circumstances, the entrenched disputant may simply see mediation as a means of eliciting further information about their opponent’s case, so as to benefit the entrenched disputant in subsequent court proceedings.

The issue of online hatred or cyber hate is at the heart of heated debates over possible limitations of online discussions, namely in the context of social media. There is freedom of expression and the value of the internet in and of itself on the one hand, and the need to protect the rights of victims, to address intolerance and racism, as well as the overarching values of equality of all in dignity and rights, on the other. Criminalizing some (forms of) expressions seems to be problematic but, many would agree, under certain circumstances, a necessary or even unavoidable solution. However, while the Court has long ago declared as unacceptable bias-motivated violence and direct threats, which under Articles 2, 3 and 8 in combination with Article 14 of the ECHR, activate the positive obligation of states to effectively investigate hate crimes, the case of Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania presented the first opportunity for the Court to extend such an obligation to the phenomenon of online verbal hate crime. This article will first address the concepts of hate speech and hate crime, including their intersection and, through the lens of pre-existing case law, identify the key messages for both national courts and practitioners. On the margins, the author will also discuss the issue of harm caused by verbal hate crime and the need to understand and recognize its gravity.

The ultra vires judgment of the German Constitutional Court on the debt security purchasing of the ECB system sent shockwaves throughout Europe. Some scholars see the legal framework, specifically the principle of the supremacy of the European Union in danger. This article argues that the judgment is a challenge for Luxembourg; however, there have been warning signs from the Czech Republic and Denmark that constitutional courts will not shy away from criticizing, when the ECJ oversteps its jurisdiction. The author argues that the judgment may weaken the overall normative power of the court and will assess whether a similar judgment could occur in the field of data protection and national security exceptions. The only way back to normality will be for the court to ensure it does not overstep its jurisdiction and the European Institutions unconditionally backing the ECJ in the expected upcoming conflict with the constitutional courts of Member States.