Strasbourg Observers
  • Anaïs Brucher

Domestic enforcement of the right to housing of applicants for international protection: a (small) victory in Camara v. Belgium

September 01, 2023

By Anaïs Brucher Camara v. Belgium is the first of what could be a long series of cases on the enforcement of the right to housing and material assistance of applicants for international protection in Belgium. On 18 July 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled on the case of Mr Camara, who […]

  • Eva Sevrin

The exceptional case of Ghadamian v Switzerland: Private life and the obligation to regularize migrants

August 29, 2023

By Eva Sevrin Ghadamian v Switzerland is one of the rare cases where the European Court of Human Rights decides that the State is under a positive obligation to regularize an irregularly residing migrant. Even more rare perhaps, is the fact that the Court finds this obligation under the right to private life (Article 8). […]

  • Mark Klaassen

Deportation, mental illness and Article 8 ECHR: a discussion of Azzaqui v the Netherlands

August 25, 2023

By Mark Klaassen Mental illness can reduce the weight attached to the nature and seriousness of a crime in the context of balancing interests under Article 8 ECHR in deportation cases. In Azzaqui v the Netherlands, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) confirmed the Grand Chamber judgment in Savran v Denmark and further […]

  • Meri Baghdasaryan

Sanchez v. France: Are the expanded liability rules foreseeable for social media users?

August 04, 2023

by Meri Baghdasaryan Earlier in July 2023, a blog post by Jacob van de Kerkhof discussed the shortcomings of the recent Grand Chamber judgment in Sanchez v. France, in which the Court expanded its intermediary liability rules for hate speech posted by third parties to individual users of social media platforms. This piece will not […]

  • Rianne Herregodts

Grosam v. the Czech Republic: being the master of characterisation, not the master of transformation

August 01, 2023

By Rianne Herregodts In Grosam v. the Czech Republic, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights concludes the Chamber of the First Section of the Court has gone too far in its characterisation of the complaint of Mr. Grosam. The judgment clarifies what it means to be ‘the master of characterisation’. It […]

  • Merel Vrancken

Not the Court’s finest work: inclusive education and reasonable accommodations for pupils with disabilities in T.H. v. Bulgaria

July 20, 2023

By Merel Vrancken In the case of T.H. v. Bulgaria, the European Court of Human Rights finds that a school provided sufficient reasonable accommodation to satisfy the needs of a pupil with a disability and that no discrimination or harassment existed. This judgment follows several other cases about the inclusion of pupils with disabilities in […]

  • Jacob van de Kerkhof

Sanchez v France: The Expansion of Intermediary Liability in the Context of Online Hate Speech

July 17, 2023

by Jacob van de Kerkhof Self-confident people are usually not too concerned about what other people post on their social media pages. But they should be. On 15 May 2023, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’ or ‘the Court’) released its judgment in the case of Sanchez v France, following […]

  • Dr. Andy Hayward

Maymulakhin and Markiv v. Ukraine – A Case of Love Conquering All?

July 04, 2023

by Dr. Andy Hayward, Durham Law School, Durham University, a.p.hayward@durham.ac.uk Following the important Grand Chamber decision in Fedotova and Others v. Russia, the Strasbourg Court has handed down two significant decisions on the legal recognition of same-sex couples. In Buhuceanu and Others v. Romania, the Court developed the principles established in Fedotova and weaponised the […]

  • Georgiana Epure and Elena Brodeală

Gender (Im)balance and the Making of the ECtHR Bench: A Critical Discussion of Romania’s Selection Process for its Strasbourg Judge

June 30, 2023

Georgiana Epure and Elena Brodeală While there is a growing consensus on the importance of gender balance in the judiciary, women are still underrepresented on the benches of international courts. The European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”, “ECtHR”) is no exception. Despite the steps taken by the Council of Europe (“CoE”) to improve the […]

  • Dr. Ronagh McQuigg

The Evolving Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on Domestic Abuse: A.E. v Bulgaria

June 27, 2023

by Dr. Ronagh McQuigg The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has now built up a substantial body of jurisprudence on domestic abuse. It is now firmly established that failure on the part of State authorities to respond in a sufficient manner to this issue may constitute violations of Articles 2, 3, 8 and 14 of […]

  • Dylan Couck

A doctoral programme protected by the right to education in Telek and Others v. Türkiye? More careful research required

June 23, 2023

By Dylan Couck On 21 March 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (‘the Court’) found that Türkiye had violated the right to respect for private life under Article 8 on the one hand, and the right to education under Article 2 of the First Protocol on the other. Türkiye had expelled Alphan Telek, Edgar […]

  • Ioana Iliescu

The implementation of ECtHR psychiatry-related judgments in Romania: UN CRPD standards as a way forward

June 16, 2023

by Ioana Iliescu, Law and Advocacy Officer at the European Implementation Network, a Strasbourg-based NGO working exclusively to advocate for the full and effective implementation of ECtHR judgments. Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) concerning psychiatry in Romania have proven particularly challenging to implement. These cases concern, inter alia, issues ranging […]

  • Júlia Miklasová

Mamasakhlisi and Others v. Georgia and Russia: Russia’s Effective Control over Abkhazia Before the 2008 War: Peacekeepers, Passportisation and Other Hybrid Elements

June 13, 2023

By Dr. Júlia Miklasová Introduction The judgment rendered by the Second Section of the Court in Mamasakhlisi and Others v. Georgia and Russia relates to the allegations of human rights violations by the de facto Abkhaz authorities in Abkhazia before the 2008 Russia-Georgia War and Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia. In this case, filed against Russia […]

  • Tobias Mortier

Defending human rights as a threat to national security? The perverse consequences of ignoring the legitimate aim question in Kogan and Others v. Russia

June 02, 2023

Tobias Mortier Given Russia’s rather poor track record in terms of its protection of human rights, one might presume that the number of Article 18 violations found by the European Court of Human Rights (‘the Court’) in respect of Russia would be significant. After all, Article 18 provides protection against the misapplication of the Convention […]