Chamber judgment concerning Belgium
22/06/2021
In the case of Hurbain v. Belgium, the Court found that there had been no violation of the Convention.
The applicant complained about a civil judgment against him, in his capacity as editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Le Soir, ordering him to anonymise an article in its electronic archive which mentioned the full name of a driver who had been responsible for a deadly road accident in 1994. The driver, who had been rehabilitated after serving his sentence, had brought an action before the Belgian courts seeking the deletion or anonymisation of the article, which was easy to find via several search engines just by entering his name.
The Court explained that there was no obligation for the media to check their archives on a systematic and permanent basis. With regard to the archiving of articles, they would not be required to make such verification, and therefore to weigh up the various rights at stake, unless they received an express request to that effect.
COVID-19
The French authorities have introduced a number of restrictions in the framework of the COVID-19 public-health crisis. The Court, while complying with the public-health measures adopted by our host State, in particular by prioritising teleworking and electronic communications, is continuing all its activities in accordance with the usual rules. Unlike during the previous lockdown periods, no special arrangements have been made in respect of procedures and time-limits.
Grand Chamber
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Judgment concerning Austria
15/06/2021
In the case of Kurt v. Austria, the Court found no violation of the Convention.
The applicant had submitted that the Austrian authorities had failed to protect her and her two children from her violent husband, the children’s father, about whom she had complained to the police for domestic violence and who had killed their son before committing suicide.
In that case the Court ruled that the information available to the Austrian authorities at the material time had not pointed to any real and immediate risk of an attempt on the children’s lives, and the authorities had ordered appropriate measures to prevent a risk of renewed violence against them. In that case the authorities had not delayed or remained inert vis-à-vis the applicant’s allegations of domestic violence.
In this case the Court clarified the general principles to be applied in cases of domestic violence for the first time.
Webcast of the hearing (17/06/2020)
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Decision
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Inadmissibility decision
17/06/2021The Court has declared inadmissible the application in the case of Galan v. Italy.
The case concerned the applicant’s forfeiture of his electoral seat as a member of parliament on account of a finding by Parliament that there was a ground of ineligibility following a conviction for corruption.
The Court considered that the immediate application of the disqualification from standing as an electoral candidate had been consistent with the legislature’s stated aim, namely to exclude persons convicted of serious offences from Parliament and thus to protect the integrity of the democratic process. This disqualification from standing as a candidate in elections could not be regarded as arbitrary or disproportionate.
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Official Visit
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Visit by a delegation from the German Federal Constitutional Court
17/06/2021
A delegation from the German Federal Constitutional Court, headed by its President, Stefan Harbarth, paid a working visit to the ECHR on 17 June 2021. The visiting judges took part in roundtable discussions with Judges and Registrars of the Court.
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Hearings
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Grand Chamber hearing concerning Switzerland
16/06/2021
The Court held a Grand Chamber hearing in the case of B. v. Switzerland.
In this case the applicant complained about the termination of the widow's pension he was receiving, as the Federal Law on Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance provides that entitlement to a widower’s pension ends when the youngest child reaches the age of 18, whereas this is not the case for a widow.
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Delivered Judgments & Decisions
22/06/2021
17/06/2021
Forthcoming Judgments & Decisions
24/06/2021