Toolkit by Bot&Partners / Court judgments

Court judgments

Famous court judgments told as stories: what happened to a person, what question the court faced, what it decided and what the judgment does not mean. Each film rests on the text of the judgment itself. The films need no legal training: each case shows how a general rule is applied to a specific situation and which arguments a court weighs before deciding.

  1. 1The right to be forgotten
  2. 2Your phone knows where you were
  3. 3A judge against the state
  4. 4Beer and equality

The right to be forgotten

Court of Justice of the European Union, Google Spain, 2014

People most often check a person’s name in a search engine: before a job interview, a deal or a first meeting. The search shows everything ever published about them, including old unpleasant stories that are long over. In 2014 the Court of Justice of the European Union decided whether a person can demand that such a link be removed from the results. The case shows what exactly can be removed and whom to ask.

Film. People most often check a person’s name in a search engine: before a job interview, a deal or a first meeting. The search shows everything ever published about them, including old unpleasant stories that are long over. In 2014 the Court of Justice of the European Union decided whether a person can demand that such a link be removed from the results. The case shows what exactly can be removed and whom to ask.

Your phone knows where you were

US Supreme Court, Carpenter v. United States, 2018

To stay connected, a cell phone keeps connecting to the nearest of its carrier’s towers, and the carrier records which tower and when. Over a few months these records add up to a detailed history of where a person has been. In Carpenter v. United States the US Supreme Court decided whether investigators can obtain that history from the carrier without a warrant. The answer shapes how well the data companies keep about us is protected.

Film. To stay connected, a cell phone keeps connecting to the nearest of its carrier’s towers, and the carrier records which tower and when. Over a few months these records add up to a detailed history of where a person has been. In Carpenter v. United States the US Supreme Court decided whether investigators can obtain that history from the carrier without a warrant. The answer shapes how well the data companies keep about us is protected.

A judge against the state

European Court of Human Rights, Oleksandr Volkov v. Ukraine, 2013

A person in a dispute with a state body counts on the dispute being decided by a judge who is independent of both sides. In Oleksandr Volkov v. Ukraine that was missing when the state dismissed a judge himself. The European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in the case on January 9, 2013. The case shows the signs by which courts check whether a hearing was independent and impartial.

Film. A person in a dispute with a state body counts on the dispute being decided by a judge who is independent of both sides. In Oleksandr Volkov v. Ukraine that was missing when the state dismissed a judge himself. The European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in the case on January 9, 2013. The case shows the signs by which courts check whether a hearing was independent and impartial.

Beer and equality

US Supreme Court, Craig v. Boren, 1976

The law constantly sorts people into groups: by age, by income, by place of residence. Sometimes it sorts them by sex, and then the question is how weighty a reason the state must give for doing so. The US Supreme Court answered it in 1976 in a case about low-alcohol beer in Oklahoma. The case shows how a court tests a rule that treats men and women differently.

Film. The law constantly sorts people into groups: by age, by income, by place of residence. Sometimes it sorts them by sex, and then the question is how weighty a reason the state must give for doing so. The US Supreme Court answered it in 1976 in a case about low-alcohol beer in Oklahoma. The case shows how a court tests a rule that treats men and women differently.

Sources