In the case of Chong Coronado v. Andorra the Court held that there had been no violation of the Convention. The applicant, a Panamanian national who was convicted in his absence in 2014 for money laundering as part of an organised criminal group, complained to the Court of being unable to lodge an appeal as he would first have had to appear in person before the court.

The Court found that the obligation for the applicant to appear in person in connection with the application for a retrial did not amount to a disproportionate burden.

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In the case of Velkov v. Bulgaria the Court found a violation of the right not to be tried or punished twice for the same offence. The applicant, a supporter of Lokomotiv Plovdiv football club, was subjected to both administrative and criminal penalties for a breach of the peace during a match in 2008. The Court held that, given the lack of a sufficiently close connection of substance between the two sets of proceedings against the applicant, they could not be regarded as forming part of an integral scheme of sanctions under Bulgarian law aimed at combating the phenomenon of sports hooliganism.

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In the case of Veljkovic-Jukic v. Switzerland the Court held that there had been no violation of the Convention. The applicant, a Croatian national who had lived in Switzerland for many years with her husband, a Serbian national, and their three children, complained to the Court about the withdrawal of her permanent residence permit because of her conviction for drug trafficking, and about her possible removal from Switzerland. In view of the seriousness of her conviction and the fact that the applicant and her family could integrate without major difficulties in one of the destination countries proposed by the Federal Supreme Court, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia or Serbia, the Court held that Switzerland had not overstepped the margin of appreciation afforded to it.

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Luzius Wildhaber was born in 1937. He studied law at Basle and Yale universities. In 1977 he was appointed Professor at Basle University. From 1992 to 1994 he was Rector of the University. From 1975 to 1988 he sat as a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Principality of Liechtenstein and from 1989 to 1994 as a judge of the Administrative Tribunal of the Inter-American Development Bank. In 1991 he was elected judge of the European Court. In 1998 he was elected by his colleagues first President of the full-time Court set up under Protocol No. 11 to the Convention and continued as President being twice re-elected until he reached the retirement age of 70 fixed by the Convention. Thus he presided over the new Court in its first difficult years when it was faced with a constantly rising case-load and increasingly serious Convention issues both in terms of gravity and scale. During this period, as well displaying his fine legal and judicial skills he showed calm authority in his leadership. Those who worked with him remember him with great respect and affection. They will recall his humanity, his sense of humour, his culture and his endlessly enquiring mind. Today the Court mourns its former President and is proud to have counted him as one of its number.

Curriculum vitae

The European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights have held their first online Dialogue on the impact of Covid-19 on Human Rights.

This Dialogue between the three regional Human Rights Courts took place on 9 July 2020 and is part of the ongoing cooperation between these Courts, in the context of the San José Declaration (2018) and the Kampala Declaration (2019).

Video of the online Dialogue

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