Grand Chamber delivery

The Court will be delivering a Grand Chamber ruling in the cases of On 2 and 3 November 2026, Vice-President Arnfinn Bårdsen received a group of Norwegian Supreme Court lawyers, headed by the Deputy Registrar of the Norwegian Supreme Court, Fred Anton Mykland and the Head of the Supreme Court’s Legal Secretariat, Knut André Aastebøl, for a two-day study visit to the Court.A.R. and Others v. Poland, H.M.M. and Others v. Latvia
on 24 November 2026.During their stay, the guests were given an introduction to the Court’s working methods and overall operation by Vice-President Bårdsen, assisted by lawyers and senior staff from the Court’s Registry and the Council of Europe’s Department for the Execution of Judgments.
The Court will be delivering a Grand Chamber ruling in the cases of A.R. and Others v. Poland, H.M.M. and Others v. Latvia and C.O.C.G. and Others v. Lithuania on 24 November 2026.
The cases all concern summary returns at the Belarusian borders from summer 2021 to summer 2022.
A.R. and Others v. Poland concerns a group of Afghan nationals who allege that they were left stranded in a makeshift camp on the border between Belarus and Poland from 8 August until 23 October 2021. They eventually returned to Afghanistan, where they currently reside.
H.M.M. and Others v. Latvia concerns a group of Iraqi nationals of Kurdish origin, who allege, among other things, that they were “pushed back” in the vicinity of the Latvian-Belarusian border starting from 11 August 2021. They have since returned to Iraq.
C.O.C.G. and Others v. Lithuania concerns four Cuban nationals and their repeated crossing of the Lithuanian-Belarusian border in March and April 2022. When they entered Lithuania on 13 April 2022, they were apprehended. They have since been issued with permanent residence permits.

