Strasbourg Observers

View posts from: Cases

  • Christian J Tams

Cyprus v. Turkey – Deadlock in the Committee of Ministers, and a Proposal on How to Break It

November 27, 2025

Dr. Christian J. Tams From 2-4 December 2025, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will meet to discuss compliance with ECtHR judgments. The agenda for the meeting is dense. States increasingly struggle to (or choose not to) ‘abide by the final judgment of the Court in any case in which they are […]

  • Dominika Bychawska-Siniarska

A Tweet Too Far? The Court Reassesses Online Speech and Reputation in Danish Defamation Case

November 21, 2025

By Dr. Dominika Bychawska-Siniarska In its recent case Mortensen v. Denmark, the ECtHR had yet another opportunity to assess whether calling someone a ‘Nazi’ falls within the boundaries of freedom of expression. Following earlier cases such as Lingens v. Austria, Brosa v. Germany and Balaskas v. Greece, the Court examined in detail whether such a […]

  • Tomáš Ľalík

Figeľ v. Slovakia: Freedom of religion in defense against the formalistic doctrine of victim status

November 04, 2025

By dr. Ľalík Tomáš On 4 September 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) adopted a decision in the case of Figeľ v. Slovakia. Ján Figeľ alleged a violation of his freedom of religion due to the absolute prohibition of public worship during the Covid-19 pandemic in Slovakia. The case concerns the protection of […]

  • Casper Vanspauwen

Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina [GC]: Strasbourg’s uneasy path towards constitutional pluralism

October 28, 2025

by Casper Vanspauwen In Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2025), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) was called upon to rule once again on the compatibility of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2009), the Court had already […]

  • Lize Glas

Disenfranchisement and dialogue in Hora v. the United Kingdom

October 24, 2025

By Lize Glas In Hora v. the United Kingdom, published on 23 September 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) had to decide whether the applicant’s disenfranchisement was compatible with Article 3 of Protocol 1 (P1), which protects the right to free elections. However, the ongoing dialogue for more than twenty years between […]

  • Ufuk Yeşil

The ECtHR’s Demirhan Judgment: The Issue of Systemic Judicial Problems in Turkey

October 21, 2025

By Dr. Ufuk Yeşil On July 22, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in Demirhan and Others v. Türkiye (Demirhan), addressing the convictions of 239 Turkish nationals for alleged membership in the Gülen movement, primarily based on their alleged use of the encrypted messaging application ByLock. Building on the landmark […]

  • Sam Chollet

A (binary) right to self-determination: T.H. v. Czech Republic

October 14, 2025

by Sam Chollet In T.H. v. Czech Republic, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) reiterated that the requirement for trans* people to undergo genital surgery to have their gender legally recognised violates the right to private life. But this apparent victory for trans* rights represents a drawback for non-binary trans* people. Summary of the […]

  • Costas Paraskeva and Eleni Meleagrou

The quest for an effective remedy has downgraded the rights to property and home of the Greek Cypriot IDPs and upgraded the de facto authority of the illegal regime in the north of Cyprus (‘TRNC’): K.V. Mediterranean Tours Limited v. Türkiye, the Court’s latest judgment 

September 30, 2025

By Dr Costas Paraskeva and Eleni Meleagrou Introduction On June 10, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (‘The Court’) delivered its judgment in the case of K.V. Mediterranean Tours Limited v. Türkiye . This is the fourth time that the Court has reviewed the domestic remedy set up by Türkiye, within its subordinate administration of […]

  • Gvantsa Danelia

Beyond the Finding: Matchavariani v. Georgia and the Lingering Questions for Protest Adjudication in Georgia

September 26, 2025

by Gvantsa Danelia The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently delivered its judgment in Matchavariani v. Georgia (Application no. 46852/21). At first glance, the case might seem like another routine finding of a violation in an administrative detention case. However, a closer examination reveals a subtle yet crucial message from Strasbourg, particularly concerning a […]

  • Giorgi Nakashidze

Not Afraid of International Humanitarian Law Anymore: the European Court of Human Rights after Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia

September 09, 2025

By Dr. Giorgi Nakashidze The European Court of Human Rights’ (“Court”) judgment of 9 July 2025 in Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia (‘Judgment’) marks a milestone in the Court’s evolving engagement with international humanitarian law (IHL). Although the Judgment raises numerous issues deserving of detailed analysis (see e.g. Milanović, Risini, Khachatryan), this post focuses […]

  • Alex Geraki Trimi

Asking migrants to document their killing: Almukhlas and Al-Maliki v. Greece

September 05, 2025

by Alex Geraki Trimi The case of Almukhlas and Al-Maliki v. Greece concerned the interception of a yacht carrying 94 migrants near the Greek island of Symi by members of the Greek Coast Guard and Frontex (under the Joint operation Poseidon) that resulted in the killing of a child of Iraqi nationality, Ameer, by the […]

  • Sibel Yılmaz Coşkun

Derrek and Others v. Russia: hesitancy on the path to a qualitative Article 3 threshold in LGBT-Phobia Cases?

August 27, 2025

By Sibel Yilmaz Coşkun          In its judgment of Derrek and Others v. Russia (29 April 2025; hereinafter Derrek), the European Court of Human Rights (the Court/ECtHR) addressed a police raid on an LGBT workshop, during which participants faced humiliating treatment and forced drug testing. The Court unanimously found violations of Articles 5 §1 and […]

  • Stefanos Xenofontos

State Complicity and the Gendered Architecture of Disbelief: A Critical Reading of N.T. v. Cyprus

August 22, 2025

by dr. Stefanos Xenofontos On 3 July 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’ or ‘the Court’) delivered its judgment in the case of N.T. v. Cyprus, unanimously finding violations of Articles 3, 8, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’) arising from the Cypriot authorities’ failure to effectively investigate and […]

  • Ufuk Yeşil

The ECtHR Judgment in Selahattin Demirtaş v. Türkiye (No. 4): A Landmark Case on Political Repression and Human Rights

August 20, 2025

By Dr. Ufuk Yeşil  On July 8 2025, the European Court of Human Rights’ (the ECtHR or the Court) addressed violations stemming from the prolonged detention of Selahattin Demirtaş, the former HDP co-chair, in Selahattin Demirtaş v. Türkiye (No. 4), exposing systemic judicial abuses targeting political dissent in Türkiye. This blog post analyzes this  judgment, and connects it […]

  • Davit Khachatryan

The Judgment in Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia: A “Nicaragua Moment” for the ECtHR?

July 23, 2025

By Davit Khachatryan On 9 July 2025, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its highly anticipated judgment in the inter-State case Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia. This landmark case addresses Russia’s responsibility for a litany of human rights violations arising from the conflict in eastern Ukraine since 2014, […]

  • Angela Hefti

The European Court of Human Rights recognises Femi(ni)cide as a Human Rights Violation: N.D. v. Switzerland 

July 16, 2025

by dr Angela Hefti Introduction In Switzerland, every two weeks a woman is killed, and women experience disproportionately high levels of domestic violence. Femi(ni)cide is not only a Latin American problem, although the term gained prominence in relation to the disappearance, rape and murders of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Femicide is a systemic issue […]

  • Babette De Naeyer

Avagyan v. Russia: Strasbourg’s Appetizer on Online Disinformation

June 27, 2025

By Babette De NaeyerAnd so it begins: online disinformation measures have reached Strasbourg. A lot has already been written about the threats of, and possible regulatory responses to the current ‘infodemic’ and the broader challenges mis- and disinformation pose to our communication landscape. Concerns about how malicious actors exploit social media algorithms to spread so-called […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

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