Abject poverty when it comes to human rights cannot be compensated for with a generous salary

Summary: The status of the EPO as an entity above the law (in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and so on) is becoming the subject of press reports and staff is leaving in large numbers

THE EPO has been reasonably quiet this year; the same goes for SUEPO, which came under severe and almost mortal attacks. ILO has barely helped as Team Battistelli mostly ignores it even when it rules against Team Battistelli. It's more of that "above the law" attitude.

We recently became aware of this site which speaks of the Administrative Tribunal of the ILO. It also has this update:

Latest news: In the meantime the High Court of The Netherlands (Hoge Raad) maintained the international organisation's immunity, despite severe human rights violations. Contrary to what the judges ruled a complainant has no means of accelerating a trial with the Administrative Tribunal of the ILO - in any case Articles 15 and 7bis of the Tribunal's rules cannot be considered such means in "normal" lawsuits (cases of conflict), cf. http://www.ilo.org/tribunal/about-us/WCMS_249195/lang--en/index.htm . The two Articles were translated and interpreted wrongly by the Attorney General of the High Court - which the complainant's Borgersbrief indicated, yet the judges seem to have ignored it. They went even further by ruling that the absence of such acceleration means is not a reason to remove the organisation's immunity - that not only the complainant's career was destroyed by the decision impugned, but also her health permanently harmed, did apparently not matter (I wonder in which case the organisation's immunity would be disproportionate then....any clue??).

It is inexcusable that the EPO can enjoy immunity under these circumstances, for reasons we already explained in posts such as:

1. Battistelli is an Autocrat Above the Law and It's OK, Holland's High Council Says
2. EPO Abuses Now Make the Netherlands Look Like a Facilitator of Human/Labour Rights Abuses
3. Media Blasts EPO Over Immunity Amid Suicides, Battistelli's Behaviour Compared to Dominique Strauss-Kahn's
4. Leaked: Team Battistelli, Exploiting a Controversial Decision From the Netherlands, is Trying to Squash SUEPO
5. The EPO's Freedom to Disregard the Law and Abuse Employees is “Being Taken up by the Council of Europe”
6. The Netherlands With Its Bizarre Decision to Let the EPO Violate Dutch Law, Now in English
7. “Team Battistelli Continues With Intimidation Tactics”
8. The European Patent Office Officially Dishonours Justice, So It's Time for SUEPO to Become Clandestine
9. Culture of Terror at The European Patent Office Escalates Thanks to Dutch Government's Complicity

We are attempting to gather more information on the above case, but in the mean time all we have is the list of ILO decisions regarding EPO staff. Occasionally we look more closely at a few.

Yesterday we explained why the EPO is becoming a threat to the European Union. It's not just about reputation issues but also growing disdain that leads to revocation of memberships, such as Britain's. Responding to the British press, one person asked: "Does [the EPO] do anything useful at all, apart from making headlines with complaints about their boss?"

And here is the latest comment, taking note of Germany's failure as well (Maas has his own interests):

The EPO staff has no fundamental rights at all.

I read in the comment of Int.og: ۬ The host country may not be able to do anything directly, but as with anyone under diplomatic immunity they could say that he is no longer welcome, and ask him to leave.۬. This could surely be a possible reaction of Germany and The neteherlands.

The German prime minister Angela Merkel said to the new US President Trump:

"Germany and America are bound by common values — democracy, freedom, as well as respect for the rule of law and the dignity of each and every person, regardless of their origin, skin color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or political views. It is based on these values that I wish to offer close cooperation, both with me personally and between our countries’ governments.”

Mr Heiko Maas, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection is well informed that there is a bad copy of Donald Trump President of the European Patent Office: namely Benoit Battistelli of french nationality. He is a bad copy because he has no respect for the rule of law, even not for the European Patent Convention, and the dignity of each and every person.

A nice overview you can find in the document for the Bavarian State Parliament published on 02 February 2017: Request - finally ensure the fundamental rights of the staff of the European Patent Office! https://www.bayern.landtag.de/www/ElanTextAblage_WP17/Drucksachen/Basisdrucksachen/0000009500/0000009748.pdf

It is for me and many others not clear what the reason is why Mr. Maas did nothing until now and many people working at the EPO have to suffer day after day.

And along the same lines, another comment:

A corporate dictatorship with diplomatic immunity?

I find it deeply disturbing that a commercial organisation can attain a status comparable to a sovereign nation, operate as a dictatorship, then be essentially immune to any government intervention, merely because it's "international".

So is Google, Microsoft and Apple, but that doesn't make them immune to government intervention.

Frankly I think the EPO is an abomination that should be exterminated and replaced with something that is fully accountable in every jurisdiction in which it operates, starting with its present Gangster-in-Chief.

According to this new comment from IP Kat, the EPO has "more than one hundred examiners retiring and leaving this year," probably running away from Battistelli's sinking ship. To quote:

Again and again the rumours about over recruitment appear..... Yes there are a few directorates where the stocks are decreasing, but there are many more where the stocks are still increasing. Overall in the EPO the stocks are very very slowly going down. With more than one hundred examiners retiring and leaving this year, without recruitment the stocks would increase again next year. Why is this so hard to understand? We were shown a simulation which predicts exactly this for our directorate, so also we have to recruit. It made sense, and shows that there is enough work overall. It doesn't make me happy that the new examiners do searches while I do much more examination, but it's fair since I have enough!

We are in the meantime attempting to contact the above-mentioned people, for there are clearly stories that ought to be told. ⬆