Chamber News


Human Rights building's snowy roof
11/01/24

In the case of Tena Arregui v. Spain the Court held that there had been no violation of the right to respect for private life and correspondence.

The case concerned the collecting and release of some of the applicant’s emails by the UPyD party (of which he had been a senior member) during an operation to monitor suspicions that other members had made backroom deals with the Ciudadanos party.

The Court found that there had been no failure to protect the applicant's right to respect for his correspondence, as, when discontinuing the criminal investigation, the Spanish courts had given ample reasons as to why the monitoring operation did not constitute an offence.

Human Rights building under the snow
09/01/24

In the case of Miranda Magro v. Portugal the Court held that there had been a violation of the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment and a violation of the right to liberty and security.

The case concerned the applicant’s preventative detention, which had been ordered by the courts following a finding that he was not criminally responsible for a number of alleged offences owing to his mental disorder.

The Court found that there had been a failure to ensure appropriate care to theapplicant during his detention, which had implications for his health and that his detention in a prison facility without adequate care had caused confusion and fear, in violation of his rights. The Court held that the violations were not attributable solely to the applicant’s personal circumstances, but were the result of a structural problem.

Human Rights building in winter
19/12/23

In the case of O.J. and J.O. v. Georgia and Russia the Court held that there had been violations of the right to liberty and security and of the right to a fair trial by the Russian Federation and no violation by Georgia.

The case concerned the arrest, detention and sentencing of two men on spying charges in the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia (currently outside the de facto control of the Georgian Government).

The Court found that, while Georgia had exercised no control over Abkhaz territory at the time (2012-2016), it had jurisdiction by virtue of the events having taken place on its territory recognised under public international law. As regards Russia, referring to its findings in Georgia v. Russia (II), the Court concluded that Russia had exercised continued effective control over the area and thus had jurisdiction in respect of the matters complained of. The Court specifically considered that the Georgian authorities had taken pertinent measures within their power to continue to guarantee the rights and freedoms under the Convention to those living in Abkhazia and that they had enabled the applicants’ release following ten months of targeted and intense negotiations.

Human Rights building in winter
14/12/23

In the case of M.L. v. Poland the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private and family life.

The case concerned restrictions on abortion rights. The applicant alleged that she had been banned from having access to a legal abortion in the case of foetal abnormalities, following a 2020 Constitutional Court judgment. She had become pregnant and the foetus was diagnosed with trisomy 21. A scheduled hospital abortion had been cancelled when the legislative amendments resulting from the Constitutional Court ruling had come into force. Unable to have an abortion in Poland, she had ultimately had to travel to a private clinic abroad for the procedure.

The Court found that the legislative amendments in question, which had forced her to travel abroad for an abortion at considerable expense and away from her family support network, had to have had a significant psychological impact on her. Such interference with her rights, and in particular with a medical procedure for which she had qualified and which had already been put in motion, had created a situation which had deprived her of proper safeguards against arbitrariness.

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Grand Chamber News


Judge's hammer
14/12/23

The Court has accepted the referral to the Grand Chamber of the case Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This case concerns the inability of the applicant, a national of Bosnia and Herzegovina, due to a combination of territorial and ethnic requirements, to vote for the candidates of his choice in legislative and presidential elections at State level. The applicant complained that because of a combination of the territorial and ethnic requirements applicable to the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he had been unable to vote for the candidates of his choice in the latest legislative elections. Similarly, he had been unable to vote for the candidates of his choice in the most recent presidential elections.

The Court has also decided to reject a request to refer one other case.

Communication of cases


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18/12/23

The Court has communicated to the Government of Türkiye five cases covering 1,000 other applications.

The applications concern convictions for membership of an armed terrorist organisation, based on the alleged use of the encrypted messaging application called “ByLock”.

The core issues raised by the applicants have already been judged in the Court’s Grand Chamber case Yüksel Yalçınkaya v. Türkiye. In that judgment the Court highlighted that there were over 8,000 applications on the Court’s docket involving similar complaints. These 1,000 apparent follow-up applications are the first batch to be notified to the Turkish Government. Against that background, the Court decided not to put any questions to the parties or to require any observations on the applications. 

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27/11/23

The Court has communicated to the Government of Slovakia the application Fico v. Slovakia and has asked them to submit their observations on its admissibility and merits.

The application concerns the secret monitoring of the applicant’s private meetings, when he was an opposition member of parliament after already having been Prime Minster, in the context of an investigation into what was seen as suspected poaching. The applicant is the leader of a social democratic party SMER and the current Prime Minister of Slovakia.

Hearings


Grand Chamber hearing in the case of Pindo Mulla v. Spain
10/01/24

The Court held a Grand Chamber hearing in the case of Pindo Mulla v. Spain.

The case concerns blood transfusions administered to the applicant, a Jehovah’s Witness, against her will. 

Decisions


Main hall of the Human Rights building staircase
07/12/23

The ECHR has declared inadmissible the application in the case of Gyulumyan and Others v. Armenia.

The case concerned the termination of the four applicants’ terms of office at the Constitutional Court in 2020, following constitutional amendments which had not been subject to judicial review. The context of those events was the “Velvet Revolution”, a new government and their efforts to combat corruption.

The Court found that even though the applicants’ claim had concerned an arguable right under Armenian law, namely their entitlement to serve their full terms of office until retirement, their exclusion from access to a court had been justified on objective grounds. In particular, their terms of office had been ended through a constitutional amendment, which had been part of broader reform and which had not been directed against them specifically.

Other News


09/01/24

On 8 January 2024 Jeanne Barseghian, Mayor of Strasbourg, visited the Court and was received by President Síofra O’Leary. Mattias Guyomar, Judge elected in respect of France, and Abel Campos, Deputy Registrar of the Court, also attended the meeting.

13/12/23

On 10 December 2023, President Síofra O’Leary attended a conference Defending the rights of everyone, everywhere held in Paris on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. She was accompanied by Mattias Guyomar, Judge elected in respect of France. President O’Leary also delivered an address during an official event hosted by Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris.

05/12/23

On 4 December 2023 President Síofra O’Leary attended an awards ceremony at the Faculty of Law, Political Science and Management of the University of Strasbourg, where she was accompanied by Judge Mattias Guyomar, elected in respect of France. She delivered an address on that occasion.