UN experts, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier de Schutter, have issued a Call for input on criminalisation of homelessness and extreme poverty.
Decriminalization of homelessness and extreme poverty
Begging as a human right? – challenging the penalisation of begging in the EU in light of the recent Lăcătuş v. Switzerland case
Anna Kompatscher
Policy Assistant, FEANTSA
Martin v. City of Voise. Case: 15-35845 [04.09.2018]
Date of the decision: 4 September 2018
Jurisdiction: United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit
Country: United States
Subject: The case challenged Boise, Idaho’s ban on sleeping in public.
US: Court Says Cities Can’t Criminalize Sleeping Outside Absent Other Housing or Shelter Options
Denmark Takes a Step Closer to Criminalising Homelessness
Hungary latest amendment to the Constitution further criminalises rough sleeping
The latest amendment to the Hungarian Constitution, which forbids living in public spaces, clearly violates the spirit of numerous international human rights treaties to which Hungary is a signatory.
Homelessness is an unacceptable violation of fundamental human rights and dignity. Nobody should have to live on the streets, but to outlaw those who have no options for a place to live is a clear violation of human rights.
Criminalisation
The number of people sleeping rough in England has more than doubled from 1,768 in 2010 to 4,751 in 2017. The number of prosecutions under the Vagrancy Act 1824 increased from 1510 in 2006-07 to 2365 in 2015-16.
France: Fondation Abbé Pierre Launches Campaign against Anti-Homeless Measures
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Criminalisation of homelessness in Europe
Housing Rights Watch and FEANTSA have been working on the issues of criminalisation of homelessness since 2012.
In 2012 we launched and ran a campaign to raise awareness about the issue called, "Poverty is Not a Crime".
Municipal ordinance punishing begging cancelled by the Council of State in Italy