Though the European Parliament voted down the Anti-Counterfieiting Trade Agreement in the face of widespread opposition, the European Court of Justice is still tasked with determining whether the treaty is compatible with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The Foundation for a Free Internet Infrastructure submitted an amicus brief to the European Court of Justice arguing that ACTA is not compatible with the Charter, nor is it compatible with a number of other international human rights instruments. The Court rejected the brief on the grounds that it doesn’t accept briefs from third parties. FFII Found Ante Wessell writes in response that “This is awkward. The court is going to decide on citizens’ rights, but does not want to hear from citizens.”
In a press release, FFII summarizes the as brief as follows:
The brief argues that ACTA is not compatible with international human rights instruments, the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, or the European Treaties.
The brief notes that citizens’ rights are involved in the referral of ACTA to the EU Court of Justice, but that citizens themselves are not involved. The referral is about the people, without the people. Therefore the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) respectfully asks the Court to consider its observations.
The brief argues that the European Commission’s request for an opinion on ACTA is not admissible. The European Parliament already rejected ACTA.
In case the Court finds the ACTA referral admissible, the brief makes some observations. The first section refers to opinions finding ACTA not compatible with fundamental rights and the European Treaties. The section discusses the main arguments against these opinions and concludes they fail to convince.
The second section explains that ACTA is not necessary, because the counterfeiting numbers are massively overstated.
The third section explains that ACTA will be ineffective, disregards adverse effects of fighting counterfeiting, and lacks proper focus in targeting dangerous products.
The fourth section explains that ACTA will make existing problems worse. The section discusses problems concerning access to medicine; access to affordable legal music, movies, games, and software problems; the lack of an assessment of the impact ACTA may have on our ability to fight climate change; the lack of an impact assessment on the potential effect of ACTA on the availability of seeds; the need to rethink copyright, patent and enforcement law; and foreign extraterritorial privatised enforcement that undermines the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The fifth section explains that the ACTA negotiations lacked openness and harmed international organizations and developing countries.
The sixth section assesses whether ACTA is compatible with article 15 of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the EU’s extraterritorial obligations, human rights impact assessments, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the European Treaties.
The brief concludes that ACTA is not compatible with international human rights instruments, the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, or the European Treaties.
