Strasbourg Observers

View posts from: Access to Court

  • Mathieu Leloup

A right for judges to challenge legislation? Strasbourg’s untenable ambiguity

April 16, 2024

By dr. Mathieu Leloup It is no secret that the protection of the independence of domestic judges has been high on the judicial agenda of the supranational courts in the recent past. Over the course of the last few years, issues related to judicial independence have been at the forefront of the case law of […]

  • Andy Jousten

Money is not everything: the immunity of a minister and the deprivation of a specific remedy to protect the civil right to a good reputation in Bakoyanni v. Greece

April 18, 2023

By Andy Jousten Introduction In its judgment in Bakoyanni v. Greece, the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention due to the Greek Parliament’s refusal to lift a former minister’s immunity. The latter had posted a tweet, which the applicant, a […]

  • Cecilia Rizcallah and Elisabeth David

The Polish Judicial Reforms under the Grand Chamber’s Scrutiny: Much Fog About Nothing? A comment of Grzęda v. Poland

May 26, 2022

By Cecilia Rizcallah and Elisabeth David On 15 March 2022, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (hereafter “the Court”) found Poland in violation of Article 6(1) (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“ECHR”) in the case of Grzęda v. Poland. There have […]

  • Ash Stanley-Ryan

J.C. and Others v. Belgium: the delicate balance of state immunity and human dignity

January 12, 2022

By Ash Stanley-Ryan International law walks a tightrope between the rights of sovereign States and the rights of those who comprise them. Tip too far to either side and the system breaks – sovereignty either becomes unbridled power, or becomes meaningless. This delicate balancing is most evident when sovereign power and human rights directly collide, […]

  • Guest Blogger

Baka v. Hungary: judicial independence at risk in Hungary’s new constitutional reality

July 12, 2016

By Pieter Cannoot, academic assistant and doctoral researcher of constitutional law (Ghent University) On 23 June 2016 the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that Hungary violated the right of access to a court (article 6, §1 ECHR) and the freedom of expression (article 10 ECHR) of András Baka, the former […]

  • Laurens Lavrysen

No Access to Court: on Prison Leave, Social Reintegration and Legal Formalism

April 25, 2012

In the recent judgment of Boulois v. Luxembourg, the Grand Chamber denied a prisoner his right of access to court (Art. 6, § 1 ECHR) in a case concerning the refusal to grant him prison leave. The Grand Chamber’s reasoning is tainted by legal formalism and fails to do justice to the importance of social […]