Strasbourg Observers

View posts from: Human Trafficking

  • Vladislava Stoyanova

Krachunova v. Bulgaria: New Positive Obligation under Article 4 ECHR to Compensate Victims of Human Trafficking for Pecuniary Damages

March 19, 2024

By Vladislava Stoyanova Krachunova v. Bulgaria is the first judgment where the ECtHR addressed the question of compensation for victims of human trafficking as a positive obligation held by States under Article 4 of the Convention. As the Court noted at para 161, in this case, the Court is ‘for the first time confronted with […]

  • John Trajer

Hidden in Plain Sight: Failure to Investigate Allegations of Abuse on Public Construction Projects in Zoletic and Others v. Azerbaijan

November 18, 2021

By John Trajer With Zoletic and Others v. Azerbaijan, delivered on 7 October 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (‘the ECtHR’ or ‘the Court’) has signalled once again a growing eagerness to intervene on issues related to slavery, servitude, forced labour, and human trafficking under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights […]

  • Guest Blogger

The Grand Chamber Judgment in S.M. v Croatia: Human Trafficking, Prostitution and the Definitional Scope of Article 4 ECHR

July 03, 2020

By Dr Vladislava Stoyanova (Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Lund University) With S.M. v Croatia, issued on 25 June 2020, the Grand Chamber delivered its first judgment under Article 4 (the right not to be held in slavery or servitude or to be required to perform forced or compulsory labour) concerning inter-personal harm, i.e. circumstances […]

  • Guest Blogger

Chowdury and Others v. Greece: Further Integration of the Positive Obligations under Article 4 of the ECHR and the CoE Convention on Action against Human Trafficking

April 28, 2017

By Dr. Vladislava Stoyanova, author of Human Trafficking and Slavery Reconsidered. Conceptual Limits and States’ Positive Obligations in European Law (Cambridge University Press, 2017)[1]  On 30 March 2017 the ECtHR delivered the Chowdury and Others v. Greece judgment (currently available only in French), where the Court found a violation of Article 4(2) of the ECHR […]

  • Guest Blogger

G.J. v. Spain and Access to Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking

September 01, 2016

Guest post by Ruth M. Mestre i Mestre, Human Rights Institute, University of Valencia. The G.J. v. Spain Decision (App. no. 59172/12) shows many of the problems victims of human trafficking encounter to access justice. It is, sadly, one of those cases where formalities swallow justice, since the outcome could have been totally different had […]

  • Guest Blogger

L.E. v. Greece: Human Trafficking and States’ Positive Obligations

February 02, 2016

By Vladislava Stoyanova, Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Law, Lund University, Sweden. Author of Human Trafficking and Slavery Reconsidered. Conceptual Limits and States Positive Obligations in European Law (Cambridge University Press, 2016 forthcoming) Against the backdrop of the rich judicial output of the ECtHR, the case law under Article 4 of the ECHR is scarce. This […]

  • Alexandra Timmer

C.N. v. United Kingdom: the Court addresses domestic servitude

November 20, 2012

Amongst all the rightful concerns about the Strasbourg Court’s case-overload, I often find myself wondering about the cases that the Court isn’t getting. Some structurally occurring human rights violations aren’t receiving the attention of the Court – at least not in any amount that is proportionate to their scale. Domestic violence against women is one […]

  • Guest Blogger

Trafficking in Persons and the European Court of Human Rights

October 26, 2011

This guest post was written by Dr. Roberta Avellino. Dr. Avellino studied Law at the University of Malta where she graduated as Doctor of Laws. She has moreover obtained a Master of Laws in International Law following research on trafficking in persons, security governance and State responsibility. She has recently published an article on the […]