Strasbourg Observers

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  • Thomas Spijkerboer

Disneyland Strasbourg: S.S. and Others v Italy

July 09, 2025

By Thomas Spijkerboer The Court’s inadmissibility decision of 12 June 2025 in S.S. and other v Italy is the end of a story that began 3.140 days before. 

  • Moritz Baumgärtel

Why the European Court of Human Rights Should Adopt an Animus-Based Approach to Xenophobic Discrimination

July 04, 2025

by Moritz Baumgärtel NB: An extended version of this blog post will be published in the edited volume Race, Racism and the European Convention on Human Rights, edited by Vandita Khanna and Kirsty Hughes (Hart Publishing, forthcoming) *** To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Strasbourg Observers Blog, we organised an in-person symposium with scholars, […]

  • 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 […]

  • Harriet Ní Chinnéide

Procedural and substantive deference: the Court’s assessment of a blanket ban on prisoners receiving internet printouts and photocopies in Tergek v. Türkiye

June 24, 2025

by Harriet Ní Chinnéide Introduction Tergek v. Türkiye concerned a blanket ban on prisoners receiving any internet printouts or photocopied documents, based solely on their format. The Court found that the ban constituted a proportionate restriction on the applicant’s right to receive information under Article 10 ECHR largely because reviewing a large volume of printed […]

  • 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 […]

  • Jernej Letnar Černič

Bank Recapitalisation, Investor Losses, and Access to Effective Remedies: Inadmissibility Decision in Kotnik and Jukič v Slovenia 

June 13, 2025

By Jernej Letnar Černič The global financial crisis from 2008 to 2014 led to several bank bankruptcies worldwide and pushed many others to the brink of collapse. The crisis was exacerbated by the mismanagement of bank funds, as banks in many European countries, such as Iceland, Slovenia, and Spain, among others, approved loans without sufficient […]

  • 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 […]

  • Gunay Ismayilova

Hasani v. Sweden: A Narrow View of Risk with Broad Consequences

June 03, 2025

by Gunay Ismayilova Introduction On 6 March 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter, the Court) delivered its judgment in Hasani v. Sweden, addressing the State’s positive obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights to protect individuals when the risk to a person derives from self-harm. Although the Court ultimately […]

  • Betül Durmuş

The Russian ‘Anti-Gay Propaganda Law’ Going Online: Klimova and Others v. Russia as a Mixed Picture

May 30, 2025

by Dr. Betül Durmuş Introduction Over the summer, Bulgaria and Georgia adopted their own ‘anti-gay propaganda laws’ prohibiting dissemination of information concerning sexual orientation or gender identity, under the guise of protecting children. And, on 19 November 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union held a hearing on the infringement proceedings against Hungary’s […]

  • Hanim Schnabel

P. v. Poland: Protecting teachers’ online free speech, overlooking homophobic prejudice

May 20, 2025

By Hanim Schnabel In P v. Poland, the ECtHR ruled by 4 votes to 3 that the dismissal of a homosexual secondary school teacher for, inter alia, writing a blog for adults with some sexually explicit content violated Article 10 of the Convention. Without taking a stance on whether the dismissal actually pursued a legitimate […]

  • Lorenza Grossi

Special Prison Regime and Cognitive Decline: The ECtHR Finds a Violation of Article 3 in Morabito v. Italy

May 16, 2025

By Lorenza Grossi The ECtHR examines the compatibility between special prison regimes and Article 3 ECHR. More precisely, under scrutiny is Article 41-bis of Law No. 354 of 26 July 1975 (the Italian Prison Law), also known as ‘hard prison.’ This provision allows the suspension of ordinary prison conditions – such as outdoor time and […]

  • 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 […]

  • Dr. Ufuk Yeşil

From Assumption to Conviction: an Evaluation of the ECtHR’s Decision in Demirer v. Turkey

April 29, 2025

By dr. Ufuk Yeşil Is crossing the border with the wrong person enough to convict you of terrorism? On March 25, 2025, the Second Section of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered its judgement in Demirer v. Turkey, addressing the perplexing case of Serferaz Demirer, who faced conviction for purportedly being a member […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • Koen Lemmens

“That’s what she said!” – Alexandru Pătraşcu v. Romania

April 11, 2025

By Koen Lemmens Liability for what others said on social media remains a complicated issue as a recent ECtHR judgment illustrates once again. In Alexandru Pătraşcu v. Roumania, the Court had to assess the applicant’s civil conviction for statements made by him, but also for statements made by other persons, on his Facebook page. According […]

  • 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 […]

  • Stephanie Motz and Annina Mullis

Undermining protection standards in pushbacks cases: The ECtHR in A.R.E. v. Greece and G.R.J. v. Greece

March 28, 2025

Stephanie Motz and Annina Mullis On 7 January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (Court/ECtHR) published its findings in A.R.E. v. Greece and G.R.J. v. Greece. In these two cases, the Court adjudicated for the first time specifically on pushback allegations at the hands of Greek authorities. Both applications were part of a series of […]

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