Strasbourg Observers

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  • Dmitry Kurnosov

No easy way out: the Strasbourg Court and legacy Russian cases

March 24, 2023

Dmitry Kurnosov Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe (‘CoE’) and, consequently, from the European Convention system has left almost 17 thousand cases pending before the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’, ‘the Court’). That number will rise further as the Court has declared that it will accept applications concerning acts and omissions under Russian […]

  • Titouan Berhaut-Streel & Charly Derave

Blood donation by men having sexual intercourse with other men: a prospective analysis of Drelon v. France

March 21, 2023

By Titouan Berhaut-Streel & Charly Derave On 8 September 2022, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgement in Drelon v. France. The case concerns Mr Drelon’s denied applications to donate blood because he refused to answer whether he had ever had sex with other men and therefore to disclose his alleged sexual orientation. […]

  • Kelly Matheson, Anders Carlson and Paul Rink

Verein KlimaSeniorinnen, Carême, and Duarte Agostinho: How Science Can Save Humanity

March 10, 2023

By Kelly Matheson, Anders Carlson and Paul Rink All eyes will be on Strasbourg this spring when the Grand Chamber hears the first two in a trio of cases legally defining the relationship between human rights and climate change: KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, Carême v. France, and Duarte Agostinho v. Portugal and 31 Others. Courts around […]

  • Nadia Rusinova

How long is too long in child abduction proceedings? Veres v. Spain

March 07, 2023

By Nadia Rusinova The recent judgment in Veres v. Spain once more revolves around the time factor in proceedings related to child abduction.  It concerns the violation of the father’s right to respect for his family life under Article 8 of the ECHR (hereinafter: the Convention). It demonstrates the detrimental effect of judicial delays especially […]

  • Jacob van de Kerkhof

Peradze v Georgia: Vulgar Language, Public Morals and the Right to Peaceful Assembly

February 28, 2023

by Jacob van de Kerkhof On 15 December 2022, the European Court of Human Rights rendered its judgment in Peradze et al v Georgia, concerning 7 protestors who were arrested at a demonstration against a construction project for holding banners with lewd language (along the lines of ‘[construction project], my cock’). The applicants received a minor administrative […]

  • Maija Dahlberg

More human rights at the cost of the state sovereignty? Clarifying the scope of applicability of Article 8 ECHR to social welfare benefits in Beeler v Switzerland

February 21, 2023

By Maija Dahlberg In Beeler v Switzerland the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) had to balance between its far-reaching human rights interpretations and the principle of state sovereignty. Concretely, the case concerned an interesting interpretative question whether to extend the scope of applicability of Article 8 ECHR to social welfare benefits.

  • Rebecca Smyth

S.F.K. v. Russia and G.M. and Others v. Moldova: the promise and pitfalls of ECtHR forced abortion jurisprudence

February 17, 2023

by Dr. Rebecca Smyth In S.F.K. v. Russia and G.M. and Others v. The Republic of Moldova , the European Court of Human Rights (the Court/ECtHR) found both States responsible for violations of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) due to the applicants being forced to have an abortion against their […]

  • Charly Derave and Hania Ouhnaoui

M. v. France: Recognising the existence of intersex persons, but not (yet) their bodily integrity

February 14, 2023

By Charly Derave and Hania Ouhnaoui On 19 May 2022, the European Court of Human Rights communicated its admissibility decision in the case of M. v. France, which deals with “normalising” medical treatments of intersex persons (i.e. those who are born with sex characteristics that do not fit the typical definition of the female and […]

  • Marie-Hélène Peter-Spiess

A.L. v. France: Domestic Surrogacy, Genetic Fatherhood, and the Best Interests of the Child

February 10, 2023

By Marie-Hélène Peter-Spiess[1] In its recent judgment A.L. v. France, the European Court of Human Rights (the “ECtHR” or the “Court”) looked into the issue of domestic surrogacy and legal fatherhood in a situation where two paternal figures are on the line. More specifically, the case featured a surrogacy-born child that the surrogate entrusted to […]

  • Dr Elif Askin

Guidance for Assessing Discrimination under Article 14 ECHR: Advisory Opinion on the Difference in Treatment between Landowners’ Associations “having a recognised Existence on the Date of the Creation of an approved Municipal Hunters’ Association” and Landowners’ Associations set up after that Date

January 31, 2023

By Dr Elif Askin The prohibition of discrimination in Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has been criticised for being a ‘parasitic’ right of marginal impact and ‘a kind of a Cinderella provision that has not been given an opportunity to shine’. Over the past decade, however, the European Court of […]

  • Dr Alice Margaria

Freeing fatherhood from breadwinning – Are we ready for (formal) equality? Beeler v. Switzerland

January 24, 2023

By Dr Alice Margaria What is the role of and what is expected of a (legal) father? From a legal perspective, this question that goes well beyond the scope of family law, and the recent judgment in Beeler v Switzerland, decided by the Grand Chamber on 11 October 2022, is a case in point. In […]

  • Balázs Majtényi

The right answer without a reasonable argument? The shortcomings of Bakirdzi and E.C. v. Hungary

January 19, 2023

by Balázs Majtényi On 10 November 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) published its decision in the case of Bakirdzi and E.C. v. Hungary. According to the judgment, the representation of national minorities in the Hungarian Parliament violates the right to free elections (Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention) in […]

  • Eva Sevrin and Emma Várnagy

G.M. and Others v Moldova: Beyond paternalism for women with intellectual disabilities and their reproductive rights

January 03, 2023

By Eva Sevrin and Emma Várnagy G.M. and Others v The Republic of Moldova concerns the imposition of abortions and contraceptive measures upon women with intellectual disabilities. In finding an Article 3 violation, the Court has not only added to its case law on reproductive rights, but also contributed to disability rights under the convention, […]

  • Nikos Koumoutzis

D.B. and Others v. Switzerland: Tracing the Origins of the Right to Recognition of Same-Sex Parentage in International Surrogacy

December 23, 2022

by Nikos Koumoutzis Since 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been hearing cross-border surrogacy cases concerning the right to recognition of parentage of the child with its intended parents within the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). A fairly large number of such cases have been reported already, and […]

  • Péter Kállai

Preferential non-representation? Case of Bakirdzi and E.C. v Hungary

December 20, 2022

by Péter Kállai On 10 November 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decided that the shortcomings of the minority voting system in Hungary constitute a violation of the right to vote under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 in conjunction with the right to non-discrimination under Article 14 of the European Convention on […]

  • Bea Streicher

Tackling racial profiling: reflections on recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights

December 16, 2022

by Bea Streicher Racial profiling constitutes a specific form of racial discrimination, which the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) defines as “use by the police, with no objective or reasonable justification, of grounds such as ‘race’, colour, language, religion, citizenship or national or ethnic origin in control, surveillance or investigation activities” (ECRI General […]

  • Jean-Baptiste Farcy

The Belgian reception crisis before the ECtHR: the Court orders Belgium to respect the rule of law

December 02, 2022

By Jean-Baptiste Farcy The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered interim measures against Belgium for failing to offer material receptions conditions to 149 asylum-seekers. In the past year, the Belgian government has failed to provide shelter to asylum-seekers due to an alleged lack of reception facilities. Thousands of domestic judgments have also been disregarded […]

  • Nele Schuldt

Pavlov v Russia: Welcoming the Court’s proactive shift in its handling of environmental complaints, including their evidentiary challenges*

November 15, 2022

Introduction On October 11th 2022, the third section of the Strasbourg Court delivered an important judgment in the case of Pavlov and Others v Russia (Application no. 31612/09), concerning air pollution, which will hopefully prove to have great ramifications for pending and future environmental and climate cases. In short, the majority spelled out that the […]

  • Serde Atalay and Vladislava Stoyanova

Jansons v Latvia: when is an ‘eviction’ actually an eviction?

November 10, 2022

By Serde Atalay and Vladislava Stoyanova When exactly does an eviction occur according to the Strasbourg Court? In Jansons v Latvia (application no. 1434/14), this question lurks behind the majority’s reasoning and the dissenting opinion of Judge O’Leary. This case is one of the “verticalized” cases brought before the Court, concerning, in essence, a private […]

  • Mathias Möschel

Basu v. Germany and Muhammad v. Spain: Room for improvement in the Court’s first judgments on racial profiling

November 08, 2022

by Mathias Möschel On 18 October 2022, the Third Section of the Strasbourg Court, decided two cases dealing for the first time with the question of whether and how far racial profiling by public authorities constitutes a violation of the Convention. The outcome is a mixed one. Whereas in Basu v. Germany the judges held […]

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