Strasbourg Observers
  • Donatas Murauskas

Delayed effect, immediate consequences: reflections on A.R. v. Poland

December 23, 2025

by Donatas Murauskas On 13 November 2025, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in A.R. v. Poland. The case concerned the Polish legal framework governing the prohibition of abortion on the ground of foetal abnormality, as well as the 2020 ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court, which effectively restricted access to abortion. […]

  • Jens T. Theilen

Afterword: What Role for the European Court of Human Rights? 

December 22, 2025

Dr. Jens T. Theilen  *** Between the 12th and the 22nd of December, Strasbourg Observers is hosted a blog symposium entitled ‘The Role of the European Court of Human Rights: Progressive, Conservative, or Both?‘ This is the concluding post in the symposium. The introduction can be found here. In addition to this post from Jens T. Theilan, […]

  • Betül Durmuş

How ‘Relevant’ are UN Treaty Body Views for the European Court of Human Rights’ Progress? 

December 19, 2025

By Dr. Betül Durmuş  *** Between the 12th and the 22nd of December, Strasbourg Observers is hosting a blog symposium entitled ‘The Role of the European Court of Human Rights: Progressive, Conservative, or Both?‘ The introduction to the symposium can be found here. In addition to this post from Betül Durmuş, the symposium includes contributions from Corina Heri, Vera […]

  • Harriet Ní Chinnéide and Tobias Mortier

Progressive is in the eye of the beholder: competing narratives on the ECtHR and its role 

December 18, 2025

by Harriet Ní Chinnéide and dr Tobias Mortier *** Between the 12th and the 22nd of December, Strasbourg Observers is hosting a blog symposium entitled ‘The Role of the European Court of Human Rights: Progressive, Conservative, or Both?‘ The introduction to the symposium can be found here. In addition to this post from  Harriet Ní Chinnéide and […]

  • Esra Demir-Gürsel

The ECtHR as a Conservative Institution (even) in the Face of Authoritarianism   

December 17, 2025

By Dr Esra Demir-Gürsel *** Between the 12th and the 22nd of December, Strasbourg Observers is hosting a blog symposium entitled ‘The Role of the European Court of Human Rights: Progressive, Conservative, or Both?‘ The introduction to the symposium can be found here. In addition to this post from Esra Demir-Gürsel, the symposium includes contributions from Corina […]

  • Vera Wriedt

The Right to Nationality: The Conservative Stance of the European Court of Human Rights in Contrast to its Inter-American and African Counterparts 

December 16, 2025

By Dr. Vera Wriedt *** Between the 12th and the 22nd of December, Strasbourg Observers is hosting a blog symposium entitled ‘The Role of the European Court of Human Rights: Progressive, Conservative, or Both?‘The introduction to the symposium can be found here. In addition to this post from Vera Wriendt, the symposium also includes contributions […]

  • Corina Heri

Temporality and the ECHR:  A Case for Functional Institutional Survival 

December 15, 2025

By Dr Corina Heri *** Between the 12th and the 22nd of December, Strasbourg Observers is hosting a blog symposium entitled ‘The Role of the European Court of Human Rights: Progressive, Conservative, or Both?‘The introduction to the symposium can be found here. In addition to this post from Corina Heri, the symposium includes contributions from […]

  • Esra Demir-Gürsel

Symposium Introduction: The Role of the European Court of Human Rights: Progressive, Conservative, or Both? 

December 12, 2025

By Dr Esra Demir-Gürsel *** Between the 12th and the 22nd of December, Strasbourg Observers is hosting a blog symposium entitled ‘The Role of the European Court of Human Rights: Progressive, Conservative, or Both?‘ This post introduces the symposium. It also includes posts from Corina Heri, Vera Wriendt, Esra Demir-Gürsel, Harriet Ní Chinnéide and Tobias […]

  • Ufuk Yeşil

The ECHR Judgment in Abo v. Turkey: An Analysis of Judicial Resistance, Legal Certainty, and the Limits of Constitutional Review 

December 09, 2025

by Dr. Ufuk Yeşil Introduction: Remedying Violations and the Critical Role of the Retrial Mechanism The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), acting as the ultimate supranational authority monitoring whether member states fulfil their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention), regards the effective implementation of its judgments within domestic law not […]

  • Vandita Khanna

Seydi and Others v. France: Proving Racial Profiling in Discrimination Law

December 04, 2025

by Vandita Khanna After three recent judgments on racial profiling (analysed here and here), Seydi and Others v France has brought the issue back before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). On 26 June 2025, the Fifth Section found France to have violated Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in conjunction with Article 8 (right […]

  • Margarita S. Ilieva

Ilareva and Others v. Bulgaria: First finding of discrimination by association (procedural) for unremedied online attacks on human rights defenders

December 02, 2025

By Margarita S. Ilieva On 9 September 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court), in Ilareva and Others v. Bulgaria for the first time applied the concept of discrimination by association to human rights defenders (HRDs) targeted by hate speech due to their activism. It found a procedural breach because of a stunted […]

  • Christian J Tams

Cyprus v. Turkey – Deadlock in the Committee of Ministers, and a Proposal on How to Break It

November 27, 2025

Dr. Christian J. Tams From 2-4 December 2025, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will meet to discuss compliance with ECtHR judgments. The agenda for the meeting is dense. States increasingly struggle to (or choose not to) ‘abide by the final judgment of the Court in any case in which they are […]

  • Strasbourg Observers

Call for Abstracts – Revisiting the ECHR: A Closer Look at Calls for Change

November 25, 2025

**As of September 2025, The Human Rights Research Group at KU Leuven has affiliated with the Human Rights Centre at Ghent University as partners of the Strasbourg Observers blog** Date Conference: 22 May 2026 Location: University of Leuven (Belgium) Conveners: Leuven Centre for Public Law – Human Rights Research Group Keynote speaker: Prof. Başak Çalı […]

  • Dominika Bychawska-Siniarska

A Tweet Too Far? The Court Reassesses Online Speech and Reputation in Danish Defamation Case

November 21, 2025

By Dr. Dominika Bychawska-Siniarska In its recent case Mortensen v. Denmark, the ECtHR had yet another opportunity to assess whether calling someone a ‘Nazi’ falls within the boundaries of freedom of expression. Following earlier cases such as Lingens v. Austria, Brosa v. Germany and Balaskas v. Greece, the Court examined in detail whether such a […]