Grand Chamber hearing concerning France
29/06/2022
The Court held a Grand Chamber hearing in the case of Sanchez v. France.
The case concerns the criminal conviction of the applicant, at the time a local councillor who was standing for election to Parliament, for incitement to hatred or violence against a group of people or an individual on the grounds of their membership of a specific religion, following his failure to take prompt action in deleting comments posted by others on the wall of his Facebook account.
Protocol No. 15 to the Convention reduces from 6 to 4 months the time-limit for lodging an application before the Court after the final domestic decision taken in the framework of the exhaustion of domestic remedies. This new four-month time-limit came into force on 1 February 2022. However, it only applies to applications in which the final domestic decision in question was taken on or after 1 February 2022. This change of time-limit was adopted by the (then) 47 member States of the Council of Europe.
Grand Chamber
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Relinquishment
30/06/2022
The Chamber to which the case Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others had been allocated has relinquished jurisdiction in favour of the Grand Chamber.
The case concerns the polluting greenhouse gas emissions from 33 member States, which in the
applicants’ view contribute to the phenomenon of global warming resulting, among other things, in
heatwaves affecting the applicants’ living conditions and health....
Interim Measures
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Interim measures concerning the Russian Federation and Ukraine
01/07/2022
The Court has indicated interim measures in the case of Oliynichenko v. Russia and Ukraine.
In this case, the applicant’s husband is allegedly a prisoner of war being held by Russian forces. The Court indicated that the Russian Government should ensure respect for his Convention rights and provide him with medical assistance should he need it.
The Court also stated that these interim measures cover any requests made on behalf of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian custody in which sufficient evidence has been provided to show that they face a serious and imminent risk of irreparable harm to their physical integrity and/or right to life.
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Interim measures granted concerning the Russian Federation and Ukraine
30/06/2022The ECHR has granted interim measures in the cases of Pinner v. Russia and Ukraine and Aslin v. Russia and Ukraine.
The cases concern two British nationals, members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who surrendered
to the Russian forces during recent hostilities and have since been sentenced to death in the so-called
“Donetsk People’s Republic”.
The Court indicated to the Government of the Russian Federation that they should ensure that the death penalty imposed on the applicants was not carried out; ensure appropriate conditions of their detention; and provide them with any necessary medical assistance and medication. The Court also indicated to the Government of Ukraine to ensure, in so far as it was possible to do so, respect for the Convention rights of the applicants....
Opening of the Judicial Year
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Opening of the Judicial Year 2022
24/06/2022
24/06/2022
The official opening of the judicial year of the ECHR took place on 24 June 2022. The event included a judicial seminar on the topic Human rights protection in the time of the pandemic: new challenges and new perspectives, attended by leading figures from the European judicial circles.
This was followed by the ceremony to mark the official opening of the judicial year 2022. President of the Court, Robert Spano, and the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, addressed representatives from the highest courts of the member States of the Council of Europe and from local, national and international authorities.
The guest of honour at this year’s opening ceremony was Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
Press release Speech by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou Speech by President Robert Spano Speech by Dunja Mijatović
Video of the Seminar: Original language - English Video of the solemn hearing: Original language - English...
Judicial Seminar & Solemn hearing 2022
Other Information
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Inter-State case Ukraine v. Russia (X)
29/06/2022The Court has received a completed application form in the inter-State case Ukraine v. Russia (X).
The case concerns the Ukrainian Government’s allegations of mass and gross human-rights violations committed by the Russian Federation in its military operations on the territory of Ukraine since 24 February 2022. The President of the Court has assigned the case to the Fourth Section and given notice of the application to the respondent State.
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Swearing-in of a new judge
27/06/2022
The Judge elected in respect of Ukraine, Mykola Gnatovskyy, was sworn in formally in the Court’s hearing room.
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One judge, three questions
27/06/2022
On the occasion of the swearing-in of the newly elected judge in respect of Ukraine, Mykola Gnatovskyy, the Court launched a new series entitled One Judge, Three Questions.
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Chamber
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Judgment concerning Greece
30/06/2022In the case of Paparrigopoulos v. Greece, the Court found a violation of the right to respect for private and family life.
The applicant complained that he had not had an opportunity to acknowledge paternity of his daughter voluntarily and had been required to have paternity determined by a court, limiting his parental responsibility. The Court held that the applicant had been unable to obtain a court order to overcome the mother’s withholding of consent to shared parental responsibility, and that the Government had not adequately explained why it had been necessary at the material time for domestic law to prescribe a difference in treatment between the fathers and mothers of children born out of wedlock and of children born in wedlock.
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Judgment concerning Spain
28/06/2022
In the case of M.D. and Others v. Spain the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private and family life.
The case concerned the compiling of files by the police in Catalonia on judges who had expressed certain views on that region’s independence from Spain. Material from the files, including photographs, had been subsequently leaked to the press. The ECHR found that the mere existence of the police reports, which had not been compiled in accordance with any law, had contravened the Convention. As for the investigation into the leak, the Court found it to have been inadequate owing to the failure to interview a person crucial to the investigation, the Senior Chief of Police of Barcelona.
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Official Visits
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Official visit by the President of the Hellenic Republic
24/06/2022
On 24 June 2022, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, President of the Hellenic Republic, paid an official visit to the Court and was received by President Robert Spano. Ioannis Ktistakis, judge elected in respect of Greece, and Marialena Tsirli, Registrar of the Court, also attended the meeting.
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Visit by the President of the Hellenic Republic
Delivered Judgments & Decisions
Forthcoming Judgments & Decisions
05-07/07/2022