In the case of A.A. v. Switzerland the Court held that there would be a violation of the Convention if the applicant, an Afghan national of Hazara ethnicity who had converted to Christianity, were returned from Switzerland to Afghanistan.

It noted that, according to numerous documents, Afghans who had become Christians or who were suspected of conversion were exposed to a risk of persecution which could take the form of State persecution and result in the death penalty.

Press release

President Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, Mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, and the Permanent Representative of Germany to the Council of Europe, Rolf Mafael, together with the Permanent Representative of France to the Council of Europe, Jean-Baptiste Mattei, took part in a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 2019. They addressed a gathering of people in front of the 4 slabs of the Berlin Wall that were donated by Germany in 1990 to the Council of Europe and now stand on the forecourt of the Human Rights Building.

Speech by President Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos (in French only)

Ireland has recently renewed its support for the webcasting project, which enables all the public hearings of the Court to be filmed, recorded and broadcast on the ECHR Internet site.

Thanks to the funding received since 2007 from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, more than 250 hearings have been filmed to date and have reached a wide audience via the Internet. The videos are made available on the day of the hearing and even the older videos can still be watched.

Webcast of hearings

On 4 November 2019 the Court accepted the referral to the Grand Chamber of the case of Kurt v. Austria.

The case concerns the murder of an eight-year-old boy by his father after previous allegations by the mother of domestic violence.

The Court also decided to adjourn one request and to reject requests to refer eight other cases.

Press release

Cases pending before the Grand Chamber

On 7 November 2019, Alain Berset, member of the Swiss Federal Council, was received by President Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos. Helen Keller, judge elected in respect of Switzerland, and Roderick Liddell, Registrar, also attended the meeting.

On 6 November 2019, a delegation from the Court, led by President Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, took part in a colloquy with the Human Rights Committee in Geneva.