Strasbourg Observers
  • 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 […]

  • Giulio Fedele

More protection than recognition for same-sex couples in Buhuceanu and Others v Romania

May 30, 2023

by Giulio Fedele, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, giulio.fedele@uniroma1.it With its latest decision in the case of Buhuceanu and Others v. Romania on 23 May 2023, the European Court of Human Rights returned to the subject of same-sex couples and legal recognition. To no-one’s surprise, the Court confirmed what it had already established just five […]

  • Veronica Botticelli

Human Rights at (Disputed) International Borders: Preliminary Remarks After the ECtHR’s Admissibility Decision in Georgia v. Russia (IV)

May 24, 2023

Veronica Botticelli On 20th April 2023, the European Court on Human Rights (‘the Court’ or ‘the ECtHR’) published its unanimous admissibility decision in the Georgia v. Russia (IV) case, adding another ‘brick’ to its ever-growing case law concerning inter-State proceedings. The present inter-State application stems from a set of facts and events whose (il)legality vis-à-vis […]

  • Patrick Leisure

Avoiding the Perpetuation of Discrimination in Education: Individual Positive Measures versus Broad Anti-Segregation Policy in Szolcsán v. Hungary

May 17, 2023

By Patrick Leisure The Szolcsán v. Hungary judgment is the most recent iteration of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, the Court) strongly confronting segregation in schools and discrimination against the Roma people more generally. Unanimously finding a violation of Article 14 together with Article 2 of Additional Protocol 1, the judgment is similar […]

  • Ausra Padskocimaite

Execution of the ECtHR’s judgments against Russia: Some legal (and political) aspects

May 15, 2023

by Ausra Padskocimaite Russia’s departure from the Council of Europe (CoE) on 16 March 2022 raised several complex legal questions, not the least regarding how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) should handle the many pending applications against Russia (currently around 16,000). While these questions received considerable attention from legal scholars, the issue of […]

  • Harriet Ní Chinnéide

L.B. v Hungary: ‘Where is the proportionality of the measure? It is not there. Animal Defenders has been invoked and applied in reverse.’

May 09, 2023

Harriet Ní Chinnéide In L.B. v Hungary, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) applied the general measures doctrine developed in Animal Defenders International v. UK to find that the Hungarian legislative policy of publishing the personal data of taxpayers who were in debt violated Article 8 of the European […]

  • Dr. Betül Durmuş

Cupiał v Poland: What Could This Case Offer on Religious Upbringing?

May 04, 2023

By Betül Durmuş On 9 March 2023, the First Section of the European Court of Human Rights (‘the Court’) delivered its decision on a promising case on religious upbringing – Cupiał v Poland – which concerns the criminal conviction of a religious parent for psychological abuse of his children. Although the case carried a great […]

  • 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 […]

  • Veronica Botticelli

Does Public Entities’ Institutional Autonomy ‘Unlock’ an ECHR Rights-Holder Status by Default? National Broadcasters’ Locus Standi in the Croatian Radio-Television v. Croatia Case

April 14, 2023

by Veronica Botticelli On 2nd March 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (‘the Court’ or ‘the ECtHR’) delivered its judgment in the Croatian Radio-Television v. Croatia case, declaring – by a narrow majority – the application admissible under Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’), but unanimously holding that there has […]

  • Claire Poppelwell-Scevak

‘Until social norms say I do’: How the Grand Chamber taketh and giveth away in Fedotova and Others v. Russia

April 12, 2023

By Claire Poppelwell-Scevak As we continue 2023, with the rise of the far right, the war in Ukraine and Russia’s absence at the Council of Europe, it may be difficult to be optimistic. However, I think that with the Grand Chamber’s judgment in Fedotova and Others v. Russia, there can be, at least, a sense […]

  • Alberto Godioli

Humour and Symbolic Violence: Canal 8 v. France

April 07, 2023

by Alberto Godioli In her concurring opinion to Patrício Monteiro Telo de Abreu v. Portugal (No. 42713/15, judgment of 7 June 2022), Judge Julia Motoc highlighted the importance of recognising the harm caused by what she referred to as ‘symbolic violence’ against women – namely the circulation and reinforcement of disparaging sexist stereotypes (see Balzaretti 2022 for a more detailed […]

  • Sjoerd Lopik

A Criminal Law Response to Climate Change: Positive Obligations under the ECHR?

April 04, 2023

By Sjoerd Lopik The past decade has seen a significant rise in interest in climate obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). There is an almost unanimous opinion in literature that climate change can lead to far-reaching violations of human rights. Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, even deems […]

  • Ingrida Milkaitė

Open Minds, Open Hearts: Macatė v. Lithuania on Restricting and Labelling a Children’s Book that Depicts Same-Sex Families in a Positive Light

March 31, 2023

By Ingrida Milkaitė On 23 January 2023, the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR found that restricting and labelling a book of fairy tales as harmful to children solely because of LGBTI content breached Article 10 ECHR. For the first time in the Court’s case-law, Macatė v. Lithuania (app. no. 61435/19) assessed restrictions imposed on literature […]

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