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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
November 01, 2022
By Sanna Mustasaari The long-awaited Grand Chamber judgement in the case of H.F. and Others v. France addressed the refusal by France to repatriate the daughters and grandchildren of the applicants, all French nationals, from Syrian camps. The question of whether States should assume responsibility for their nationals, particularly children, who have been detained in […]
October 28, 2022
By Cathérine Van de Graaf On the 12th of September, the Human Rights Centre[1] (HRC) of Ghent University (Belgium) submitted a third party intervention (TPI) before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) in the communicated case of Missaoui and Akhandaf v. Belgium, after being granted leave to intervene by the President […]
October 21, 2022
by Tommaso Virgili In the case Rabczewska v. Poland, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that the conviction of a Polish woman due to her blasphemous statements against the Bible violated her rights under Article 10 of the Convention. This case stands in contrast with the recent E.S. v. Austria, where the Court […]
October 07, 2022
By Charly Derave & Hania Ouhnaoui In a judgment of 24 March 2022, the European Court of Human Rights, sitting in chamber, rules unanimously that the French authorities’ refusal to allow the establishment of a legal parent-child relationship between a child and a woman who is the former partner of their biological mother – also […]
October 04, 2022
By Daniel Simon and Mark Klaassen There are no reliable tools to determine a person’s exact chronological age. And yet, legal safeguards for asylum seekers depend on it to a large extent. The way states determine whether an asylum seeker is a minor or not remains a widely controversial topic. In fear of abuse of […]
September 30, 2022
by Zoe L. Tongue and Lewis Graham On the 20th September 2022, the European Court of Human Rights handed down its judgment in Y.P. v Russia, a case concerning the non-consensual sterilisation of a 28-year-old women during a Caesarean section. The Court’s dismissal of the arguments made under Article 3 appears out of step with […]
September 27, 2022
By Natalie Alkiviadou Salman Rushdie Internationally acclaimed, Indian-born writer Salman Rushdie has written a range of novels and stories on social, historical and philosophical issues. He is a controversial figure mostly because of his fourth novel, ‘The Satanic Verses’. The book was published in 1988 and was heavily criticised by some Muslim leaders as blasphemous, […]
September 23, 2022
By Simona Florescu In T.C. v Italy, the ECtHR was once again called upon to decide on sensitive questions involving divergent parental views over the child’s upbringing. In this particular case, the main question was whether the Italian courts’ judgments ordering the applicant to refrain from actively involving his daughter in religious activities constituted discrimination […]
September 20, 2022
by Dmitry Kurnosov On September 16, 2022 Russia ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This event is bound to have serious repercussions both for Russia and for the Strasbourg institutions. In this contribution, I chart some of the potential implications both for Russian domestic law and for the […]
September 14, 2022
By Sofia Balzaretti Introduction In the case Patrício Monteiro Telo de Abreu v. Portugal, the Strasbourg Court held that the judicial domestic authorities had not taken sufficient account of the context in which Patricio Monteiro Telo de Abreu, the applicant, had published satire cartoons depicting sexist stereotypes on his blog and that they had thus […]