In the case of Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania the Court has found several violations of the Convention on account of the Lithuanian authorities’ refusal to investigate hate-speech comments posted on Facebook following the publication of a photo showing the applicants, a same-sex couple, kissing.

The Court found that the applicants’ sexual orientation had played a role in how their case was dealt with by the authorities, who had stated very clearly that they disapproved of the fact that the applicants had displayed their homosexuality so publicly. In addition, the Court expressed concern that the Supreme Court’s case-law emphasised the “eccentric” behaviour of persons belonging to sexual minorities and their duty “to respect the views and traditions of others” when exercising their own rights.

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

The case concerned a German father’s efforts to return his daughter from his former Lithuanian wife after court orders in his favour.

The Court found in particular that it was clear that the legislature and executive had attempted to influence the decision-making process in favour of the mother, despite the court orders in favour of the father, which should have been rapidly enforced in Lithuania.

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In the case of Soares Campos v. Portugal the Court has found that the criminal investigation conducted into the circumstances of the applicant’s son’s death during university hazing in 2013 fell short of the requirements of Article 2 of the Convention.

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In the case of D and Others v. Romania, the Court has found that the applicant’s expulsion to Iraq would not amount to a violation of the Convention. However, given that the remedies available to him in order to contest the expulsion order had no suspensive effect, the Court ruled that they were not compatible with the Convention.

The case concerned an Iraqi national who was being expelled to Iraq because he had been convicted in Romania of having facilitated the entry into Romanian territory of persons involved in terrorist activities (an offence linked to migrant smuggling).

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The Court will deliver its Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt v. Hungary on 20 January 2020.

In this case the applicant, a political party, complains of being fined for making a mobile telephone application available to voters allowing them to post and share photographs of invalid ballot papers during the 2016 referendum on the European Union’s migrant relocation plans.

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Webcast of the hearing (21/11/2018)

Country profile - Hungary

The Court has declared inadmissible the application in the case of B.L. and Others v. France, which concerned complaints by asylum-seekers housed in a temporary tent camp on Avenue de Blida in Metz, in 2014.

In view of their failure to maintain contact with their lawyer, the Court held that 22 of the 23 applicants had lost interest in the proceedings and no longer intended to pursue their application. With regard to the applicant E.G., the Court found that she had not sufficiently substantiated her complaints.

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A new edition of the Rules of Court has been published.

Rules of Court