April 28, 2026
by Ananya Kumar-Banerjee Introduction On 3 February 2026, the European Court of Human Rights (“Strasbourg”) handed down OH and Others v Serbia (No. 57185/17) (“OH and Others”). Strasbourg considered whether the Serbian Government’s pushback of seventeen migrants into Bulgaria was in breach of the European Convention. Ultimately, the Court held that Serbia had breached Articles […]
March 31, 2026
By Professor Natasa Mavronicola *** Strasbourg Observers is currently hosting a blog symposium on Article 3 ECHR and the forthcoming Chișinău Declaration on the ECtHR’s approach in migration cases. The symposium was convened by Natasa Mavronicola. It also features contributions from Mary Rogan, Rishika Sahgal, Eva Sevrin, and Elaine Webster. *** Introduction In 2013, Francesco […]
August 08, 2025
Alex Geraki Trimi and Pedro Sanz Díaz *** To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Strasbourg Observers Blog, we organised an in-person symposium with scholars, practitioners, and members of the ECtHR on 8–9 May 2025 in Ghent. Connecting in person with so many regular contributors was a wonderful experience and led to engaging dialogue with […]
October 22, 2024
By Isabel Kienzle and Jonathan Kießling For the first time, in M.A. and Z.R. v. Cyprus, the ECtHR has decided on a pushback case against Cyprus, addressing the island state’s practice to intercept and return migrants arriving from Lebanon without an individual assessment of their protection needs. As the parties provided conflicting accounts of the […]
March 05, 2024
By Dr Juan Ruiz Ramos Introduction W.A. and Others v. Italy concerns the procedures that States ought to follow to avoid violating the principle of non-refoulement under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention). While procedural matters often do not create as much hype among academics as questions of substance—such as the […]
June 22, 2021
By William Julié, founding partner of William Julié Law Office and international criminal law officer at the International Bar Association, and Juliette Fauvarque, trainee lawyer at William Julié Law Office. In the recent Bivolaru and Moldovan v. France case, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) handed a landmark judgment in relation to the execution […]
January 15, 2021
Blog post by Riccardo Viviani, LL.M., and Denise Venturi, Ph.D. Candidate in Law, KU Leuven, Research Unit Public Law* On 17 November 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in B. and C. v Switzerland. The case concerned the risk of deportation and ill-treatment upon return to the Gambia of a […]
December 03, 2020
By Eleonora Frasca, PhD Researcher in EU Migration Law at UCLouvain, Member of EDEM (Equipe droit européen et migrations) On 27 October 2020, the Court delivered its ruling in the case of M.A. v. Belgium (press release available in English). The case concerns the deportation of a Sudanese national, who was apprehended without documents by […]
May 07, 2020
By Moritz Baumgärtel M.N. and others v. Belgium confronted the ECtHR with the question whether Article 3 of the ECHR places an obligation on State Parties to provide short-term humanitarian visas in their foreign embassies and consulates to potential asylum seekers. The Court, assembled in its Grand Chamber, found the case to be outside the […]
November 05, 2018
By Marjan Claes (NANSEN), Charlotte Coenen (NANSEN), Ellen Desmet (UGent), Sylvie Saroléa (UCL) On 13 September 2018, the European Court of Human Rights struck the application of Basra v. Belgium out of its list. Mr. Basra argued not having benefited from an effective remedy in the sense of article 13 ECHR, with respect to his […]
June 26, 2017
By Ellen Desmet, assistant professor of migration law at Ghent University On 30 May 2017, the European Court of Human Rights decided two cases regarding the expulsion of rejected asylum seekers by Switzerland to Sudan. In A.I. v. Switzerland, the Court held unanimously that there would be a violation of Articles 2 and 3 ECHR […]
April 14, 2017
By Helena De Vylder, lawyer at the Flemish Integration Agency (Agentschap voor Integratie en Inburgering) On 7 March 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave a preliminary ruling in the case PPU X and X v. Belgium. Against the recommendations of the Advocate General, the CJEU left the responsibility for granting […]
March 02, 2012
This is the second post written by Marie-Bénédicte Dembour* on the case Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy. As I said yesterday, Hirsi is a fantastic judgment. It is ground-breaking not only for declaring interception-at-sea as currently practiced illegal on a number of grounds but also for potentially lightening the burden of proof which falls […]
March 01, 2012
This post is written by Marie-Bénédicte Dembour. She is Professor of Law and Anthropology at the University of Sussex. She is the author of Who Believes in Human Rights? Reflections on the European Convention and currently preparing a monograph provisionally entitled Migrant First, Human When? Testing Human Rights in the European and Inter-American Courts. Europe […]
December 12, 2011
International politics are never far away in cases dealing with the extradition of individuals to third countries. In the case of Al Hanchi v. Bosnia and Herzegovina the European Court of Human Rights was confronted with an extradition of a so-called foreign mujahedin to Tunisia. Until now, the Court had a clear stance. The deportation […]