Strasbourg Observers

View posts from: Cases

  • 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 […]

  • Igor Mirzakhanyan

A Defining Test for Strasbourg. Legal and Procedural Dilemmas of Interstate Withdrawal Before the European Court of Human Rights

June 06, 2025

by Igor Mirzakhanyan In an unprecedented development before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), both Armenia and Azerbaijan have expressed their intention to withdraw all pending interstate applications submitted against each other. As part of their ongoing peace negotiations following the 2020-2023 hostilities, the two countries have reportedly committed not only to discontinuing their […]

  • Gunay Ismayilova

Hasani v. Sweden: A Narrow View of Risk with Broad Consequences

June 03, 2025

by Gunay Ismayilova Introduction On 6 March 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter, the Court) delivered its judgment in Hasani v. Sweden, addressing the State’s positive obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights to protect individuals when the risk to a person derives from self-harm. Although the Court ultimately […]

  • Betül Durmuş

The Russian ‘Anti-Gay Propaganda Law’ Going Online: Klimova and Others v. Russia as a Mixed Picture

May 30, 2025

by Dr. Betül Durmuş Introduction Over the summer, Bulgaria and Georgia adopted their own ‘anti-gay propaganda laws’ prohibiting dissemination of information concerning sexual orientation or gender identity, under the guise of protecting children. And, on 19 November 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union held a hearing on the infringement proceedings against Hungary’s […]

  • Alain Zysset

An Anxious-Avoidant Court: Adjudicating Democratic Infrastructure in Călin Georgescu v. Romania

May 27, 2025

By Alain Zysset The key feature of an anxious-avoidant attachment style is the ambivalence between seeking connection and seeking withdrawal. This can lead to inconsistent behaviours towards partners, displaying excessive closeness one time and abruptly retreating from the relationship the next time. There are analogous traits of an anxious-avoidant attachment style in the Court’s reasoning […]

  • Lorenzo Acconciamessa

The Presumption of Effectiveness of Domestic Remedies in Mansouri v. Italy. How Far Can Subsidiarity Go in This Field?

May 23, 2025

By Lorenzo Acconciamessa On 29 April 2025 the Grand Chamber issued its ruling in the case of Mansouri v. Italy, which concerned the lawfulness and conditions of an alien’s confinement on board a private ship, used to return him to his country of departure on the basis of a refusal-of-entry order. As regards the applicant’s […]

  • Hanim Schnabel

P. v. Poland: Protecting teachers’ online free speech, overlooking homophobic prejudice

May 20, 2025

By Hanim Schnabel In P v. Poland, the ECtHR ruled by 4 votes to 3 that the dismissal of a homosexual secondary school teacher for, inter alia, writing a blog for adults with some sexually explicit content violated Article 10 of the Convention. Without taking a stance on whether the dismissal actually pursued a legitimate […]

  • Lorenza Grossi

Special Prison Regime and Cognitive Decline: The ECtHR Finds a Violation of Article 3 in Morabito v. Italy

May 16, 2025

By Lorenza Grossi The ECtHR examines the compatibility between special prison regimes and Article 3 ECHR. More precisely, under scrutiny is Article 41-bis of Law No. 354 of 26 July 1975 (the Italian Prison Law), also known as ‘hard prison.’ This provision allows the suspension of ordinary prison conditions – such as outdoor time and […]

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