Destroying human embryos, as well as studying and experimenting on embryonic stem cells, will be legal in the European Union. The Court of Justice of the European Union has rejected the appeal of the creators of the "One of Us" European Citizens' Initiative. This means that it will cease to be worked on any further by the EU. The purpose of the initiative was to make EU regulations more uniform by prohibiting and defunding actions which violate fundamental human rights.

The European Court of Human Rights has issued another in a series of rulings against Norway, this time in the case of a violation of the right to family life by the Barnevernet – Norway’s child protective services.

The values which form the basis for law have a profound impact on modern Europe. This was the topic of the House on the Rock “Axiology of Law for the Europe of Tomorrow” Conference, which saw many prominent researchers engage in discussion in Rome.

The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, adopted a series of resolutions on matters such as children’s, women’s and family rights.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that Switzerland violated human rights by denying asylum to an Afghan man who converted to Christianity from Islam and fled his homeland fearing persecution.

Helena Dalli is a new member of the European Commission, and a proponent of same-sex couple and sexual and reproductive rights. The Maltese has taken the newly-created position of Commissar for Equality.