October 06, 2026
By Joanna Demopoulou On 25 August 2026 the Grand Chamber held that Osman Kavala’s criminal conviction ‘should be regarded, under Convention law, as null and void’ (Kavala v. Türkiye (No. 2), § 309). Article 46 ECHR reasoning is ordinarily oriented towards obligations, results and measures: what the respondent State must achieve, and by what means, […]
October 02, 2026
By Marilena Katsogiannou Among the striking features of the Grand Chamber’s judgment in Kavala v. Türkiye (no. 2) is the way it dealt with Kavala’s expressly pleaded Article 7 complaint. It identified the defects at its core, but did not decide the complaint under this provision. Article 7 ECHR embodies the principle of criminal legality: […]
September 25, 2026
By Martin Scheinin and Sophie Duroy The latest judgment on surveillance powers in Bulgaria, identified by the Court as a Key Case, is a puzzling read. The Court is undoubtedly right to find that Bulgaria continues to violate the Convention through its surveillance practices, including in relation to civil society organisations. Yet Kanev is, in […]
September 11, 2026
By Sophie Bols The ECtHR’s judgment in D.M. v Sweden has been well received by scholars and practitioners, alongside other recent migration-related judgments, in which the Court has issued well‑reasoned and protective decisions amid intense political contestation. The judgment provides important safeguards at a moment when several member states have begun deporting, or openly discussing […]
September 08, 2026
By Basil Saen As reported earlier on this blog, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) issued an interesting Grand Chamber judgment in Yasak v. Türkiye on 5 May 2026. This case sits in the context of mass prosecutions and convictions of alleged members of the ‘Fetullahist Terrorist Organisation/Parallel State Structure’ (the […]
August 28, 2026
By Vesna Stefanovska On 7 July 2026, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in Al Nashiri v. Lithuania. The applicant had been detained for more than five months in a CIA detention facility in Lithuania, resulting in several Convention violations. In relation to Article 8, the Court found a violation on account […]
August 25, 2026
By Casper Vanspauwen On 30 June 2026, the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR decided to strike out the applications constituting the case of Vainik and Others v. Estonia. In doing so, the Court effectively annulled its earlier Chamber judgment of 4 November 2025, in which it had ruled in favour of the applicants by a […]
August 18, 2026
By Faraz Shahlaei In 2019, following Paris Saint-Germain’s controversial elimination from the UEFA Champions League against Manchester United, Neymar, PSG’s Brazilian football star, posted an Instagram story criticizing the referee’s decision to award a decisive penalty in the final minutes of the match. The story read: ‘This is a disgrace, they put four people who […]
August 11, 2026
By Igor Mirzakhanyan Amid ongoing discussions about the potential withdrawal of interstate cases before the ECtHR (along with all other claims before international legal forums) pursuant to Article XV of the initialed agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Court has delivered a new judgment concerning the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict. On 18 June 2026, the Court […]
July 10, 2026
by Dr David Mier Galera In Biliński v. Poland (April 15, 2026), the ECtHR once again defends the independence of Polish judges against arbitrary actions by higher judicial bodies and the National Council of the Judiciary affected by the judicial reform in Poland. The judicial reform in Poland was approved in 2017, but its effects […]
June 23, 2026
By dr. Ufuk Yeşil Introduction On May 5, 2026, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the case of Yasak v. Türkiye (Application No. 17389/20). By a majority, the Court held that the conviction of the applicant under Article 314 § 2 of the Turkish Penal Code […]
June 16, 2026
By Dr. Vladislava Stoyanova Introduction Bulgaria won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026 with the song Bangaranga. Soon after the initial euphoria (the song was indeed the best!, but nobody believed that we could actually win), Bulgaria started to discuss its preparedness to organise large-scale events involving many people and ensuring safety. Such discussions are […]
June 12, 2026
by Marilena I. Katsogiannou The intersection of alternatives to prosecution and fair trial guarantees has long occupied a contested space in European criminal procedure. In B.G. v. France (application no. 70945/17, 19 March 2026), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) confronted this tension in its most acute form: a minor who had reported a […]
June 05, 2026
By Jessica Schultz and Jens Vedsted-Hansen Last week, the Committee of Ministers adopted the anticipated Chişinău Declaration, outlining political guidance to the ECtHR in cases related to migration control. A target of discontent is the application of Article 8, which may block states from deporting or denying residence to migrants with strong personal ties to […]
May 26, 2026
By Lena Riemer The distance between Willemstad and Strasbourg is roughly 7,500 kilometers. Yet, as a self-governing constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Curaçao is bound by the treaty obligations entered into by the Netherlands, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). For that reason, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) […]
May 12, 2026
By Marion Sandner In its decision on 5 March 2026, in European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) and International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) v France, the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) effectively put its foot down for the rights of beggars, homeless people and others living in poverty in […]
May 08, 2026
By Sotiris Paphitis In its recent judgment in X v. Georgia, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) was once again confronted with a question that has become increasingly prominent in its recent case-law on sexual violence: can a State be said to have complied with its positive obligations under Articles 3 and […]
May 01, 2026
By Lewis Graham and Marion Sandner Introduction When determining whether an interference with a Convention right relating to socio-economic matters has been justified by a state, the European Court of Human Rights usually asks whether the measure in question is said to be ‘manifestly without reasonable foundation’. This test has a long lineage – it […]
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 […]
April 21, 2026
by Joseph Finnerty States are increasingly adopting laws which place additional restrictions on civil society and media actors when they receive foreign assistance—financial or otherwise—for their advocacy or reporting activities. So-called ‘foreign agent’ laws are quickly becoming ubiquitous in autocratising contexts (see, most recently, the proposals emerging in Czechia). They vary in scope and in […]