Strasbourg Observers

View posts from: Article 8

  • Stefanos Xenofontos

State Complicity and the Gendered Architecture of Disbelief: A Critical Reading of N.T. v. Cyprus

August 22, 2025

by dr. Stefanos Xenofontos On 3 July 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’ or ‘the Court’) delivered its judgment in the case of N.T. v. Cyprus, unanimously finding violations of Articles 3, 8, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’) arising from the Cypriot authorities’ failure to effectively investigate and […]

  • Sophie Giardini

B.T. and B.K.Cs. v. Hungary: Child Removal and Stereotyped Romani Motherhood but No Discrimination

August 13, 2025

By Sophie Girardini In B.T. and B.K.Cs. v. Hungary, the ECtHR addressed the removal of a Romani child from his mother just three days after birth. The Court found a violation of Article 8 of the Convention due to the flawed decision-making process of the Hungarian authorities in removing the child from family custody. However, it […]

  • Ana Radina

Is Article 8 Enough? L.F. and Others v. Italy and the Sidelining of Article 2 in Environmental Cases

July 30, 2025

by Ana Radina  On 6 May 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) delivered a judgment in the case of L.F. and Others v. Italy that concerns adverse effects of long-term exposure to environmental pollution in the Salerno municipality (Campania region). Flexible application of the precautionary principle resulted in the Court’s finding of […]

  • Lorena Sosa

From institutionalisation to exploitation: structural failures and stereotyping in I.C. v. The Republic of Moldova

July 02, 2025

By Lorena Sosa The case of I.C. v. The Republic of Moldova intersects with two strands of ECtHR jurisprudence: (1) the Court’s developing understanding of sexual violence, rape and sexual exploitation, and (2) its evolving anti-stereotyping framework, particularly regarding persons with disabilities. Against the backdrop of landmark rulings, this judgment further enriches the Court’s often […]

  • Eloïse Ward

Ships Waste Oil Collector B.V. and Others v Netherlands – Article 34 and the margin of appreciation: companies as rights-holders under Article 8

June 20, 2025

Eloïse Ward In Ships Waste Oil Collector B.V. and Others v Netherlands, the applicant companies alleged that the transmission of data intercepted during criminal investigations to the Competition Authority violated their rights to private life under Article 8. The substance of this case raises important questions about what safeguards against arbitrariness are adequate when data […]

  • Dr. Katarzyna Sękowska-Kozłowska

X v. Cyprus: a Case of Gang Rape, Victim-Blaming, and Retracted Accusations

June 10, 2025

By Dr. Katarzyna Sękowska-Kozłowska The judgment in X v. Cyprus of 27 February 2025 marks a significant contribution to the European Court of Human Rights’ developing anti-stereotyping approach in cases of sexual violence. While building on its earlier judgments, particularly J.L. v. Italy (commented on here), which exposed victim-blaming stereotypes and re-victimisation, it brings added […]

  • Ellen Desmet, Ilse Derluyn and Sara Lembrechts

A mixed assessment on age assessment: F.B. v. Belgium

May 09, 2025

By Ellen Desmet, Ilse Derluyn and Sara Lembrechts F.B. v. Belgium concerns the decision of the Belgian Guardianship Service to terminate the support of an unaccompanied minor following an age assessment. While the ECtHR found a violation of Article 8 ECHR due to a lack of sufficient safeguards, it did not substantively engage with the […]

  • Mathieu Leloup

Green v. the United Kingdom: absolute parliamentary immunity in Parliament, no matter the cost?

May 02, 2025

by dr. Mathieu Leloup Introduction Parliamentary immunity is a staple of domestic constitutional law, designed to protect free speech in Parliament. It is present in some form or another in every country of the Council of Europe. Broadly defined, it is a legal instrument which inhibits legal action, measures of investigation, or measures of law […]

  • Reza Khabook

El Aroud and Soughir v. Belgium: Why the ECtHR Should Rethink Citizenship Revocation as a Criminal Punishment?

April 25, 2025

By Reza Khabook On 3 December 2024, the ECtHR issued a Chamber judgment in El Aroud and Soughir v. Belgium. This case concerns the applicants’ citizenship revocation[1] following their terrorism-related convictions in Belgium. The Court concluded that Article 8 had not been violated and excluded the case from the scope of Article 2 of Protocol […]

  • Catherine Van de Heyning

Strasbourg’s consolidation on technology-facilitated gender-based violence: M.Ș.D. v. Romania

April 22, 2025

By Catherine Van de Heyning As society digitalised, so did gender-based violence. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) has become an unfortunate byproduct of digitalisation. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) already recognised that cyberviolence may amount to a violation of the right to privacy and, in some instances, even to degrading and inhuman treatment. In […]

  • Carmen Draghici

Fault-Based Divorce for Breach of Conjugal Duties: Reassessing Privacy and Sexual Freedom within Marriage 

April 15, 2025

by Carmen Draghici The Strasbourg Court has been notoriously reluctant to interfere with the domestic regulation of divorce, both as regards its availability (Johnston v. Ireland) and the grounds on which it may be obtained (Babiarz v. Poland, discussed here). Nonetheless, in H.W. v. France, issued in January 2025, it has shown willingness to review […]

  • Sophie Bols

In the footsteps of Darboe and Camara – Age assessment of unaccompanied minors in A.C. v. France: between procedure and protection

April 04, 2025

By Sophie Bols On 16 January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights issued another judgment, A.C. v. France, on age assessment procedures for unaccompanied minors and held that there was a violation of Article 8 ECHR. The Court emphasises the importance of procedural safeguards, reaffirming some of the findings established in Darboe and Camara […]

  • Violetta Sefkow-Werner

Individual vs. representative applications or environment vs. climate issues – The ECtHR’s Cannavacciuolo and Others v. Italy judgment

April 02, 2025

Violetta Sefkow-Werner The recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) in the case Cannavacciuolo and Others v. Italy of 30 January 2025 concerns a large-scale pollution phenomenon in the Italian Campania region caused by decades-long illegal and uncontrolled waste disposal by private actors and sustained by the government’s systematic […]

  • Lize R. Glas

Caldarar and Others v. Poland: A win for Roma rights, but not in every respect

March 21, 2025

by Lize R. Glas On 6 February 2025, the Court delivered the judgment Caldarar and Others v. Poland, concerning the demolition of a Roma encampment. The Polish Nomada Association for Multicultural Integration (‘Nomada’) welcomed the judgment as a ‘landmark ruling from Strasbourg’. The European Roma Rights Centre (‘ERRC’) issued a press release entitled ‘European Court […]

  • Corina Heri

Vindicating the ECtHR’s Role in Environmental Matters: Cannavacciuolo and Others v. Italy

March 11, 2025

Corina Heri On 20 January 2025, the ECtHR issued a Chamber judgment in Cannavacciuolo and Others v. Italy. This environmental pollution case concerns an area known colloquially as the Terra dei Fuochi (“Land of Fires”) because it is notoriously plagued by the illegal dumping, burying and burning of waste on private land. This decades-long practice, […]

  • Natalie Alkiviadou

Hate Speech, Positive Obligations and Free Speech: The ECtHR’s Expanding Framework in Minasyan and Others v. Armenia (2025)

March 07, 2025

Dr. Natalie Alkiviadou On the 7th January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR/Court) delivered the judgment of Minasyan and Others v. Armenia (2025). It addressed critical issues of hate speech, discrimination and the state’s positive obligations under Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life) in conjunction with Article 14 […]

  • Merel Vrancken

Reasonable accommodation in schools in S. v. the Czech Republic: How the ECtHR’s position on the CRPD has become untenable

February 04, 2025

By Merel Vrancken In the case of S. v. the Czech Republic, a child with autism spectrum disorder requested his school to provide reasonable accommodations, which were provided after a delay. In the subsequent court case on this issue, the child’s request to be heard was denied. Twice the absence of a medical report lay […]

  • Maxim Krupskiy

Kobaliya and others v. Russia: Perverted transparency or when legislation on ‘Foreign Agents’ bears the hallmarks of a totalitarian regime?

January 17, 2025

Maxim Krupskiy Kobaliya and others v Russia concerns ‘foreign agent’ legislation in Russia and the way it developed since 2012. Russian legislation on ‘foreign agents’ had first come before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, the Court) in Ecodefence and Others v. Russia, where the Court found substantial violations of Article 11 (read in […]

  • Ufuk Yeşil

Çamurşen v. Türkiye: Unresolved Issues in Yalçınkaya on Internet Traffic Data Retention Deferred

January 10, 2025

by Ufuk Yeşil The European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter ‘the Court’) declared the case of Çamurşen v. Türkiye inadmissible on the grounds of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. In this case, the applicant alleged a violation of the right to respect for private life, arguing that internet traffic data had been retained beyond the prescribed […]

  • Florian Van Tichelt

IT searches and seizures targeting lawyers: the case of Bersheda and Rybolovlev v. Monaco

December 13, 2024

by Florian Van Tichelt Introduction On the 6th of June 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter: ‘the Court’) delivered a judgment in the case of Bersheda and Rybolovlev v. Monaco. In this case, the Court had to decide on a Monegasque criminal investigation in which a lawyer’s phone was perused by virtue of […]

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