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Grand Chamber hearing concerning 33 member States
The Court held a Grand Chamber hearing in the case of Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Others.
The case concerns the 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.
Chamber News
In the case of Total S.A. and Vitol S.A. v. France, the Court held that there had been no violation of the no punishment without law.
The case concerned the applicant companies’ conviction for the offence of bribing foreign public officials.
The applicant companies were found guilty of bribing foreign public officials, in contravention of the UN “oil-for-food” programme, and sentenced under Article 435-3 of the Criminal Code. Relying on Article 7 of the Convention (no punishment without law), they complained that the law in question lacked accessibility and foreseeability.
In the case of I.V. v. Estonia, the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private and family life.
The case concerned a father’s attempt to contest the adoption of his biological son by another man in Estonia, against the background of paternity proceedings in Latvia. The Court stressed that although this was a cross-border case, the Court was examining only Estonia’s responsibility.
The Court found that the Estonian authorities had overall failed to strike a fair balance between the interests of the applicant and those of his son in either the proceedings allowing the adoption or the subsequent proceedings brought by the father requesting to annul the adoption. In particular, the Estonian courts had paid no attention to the fact that there were, in parallel, ongoing paternity proceedings in Latvia, and they subsequently simply rejected the father’s request to annul the adoption solely on formal grounds, because he did not have standing as the legal father.
In the case of El-Asmar v. Denmark the Court held that there had been a violation of the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment as regards the allegation of excessive use of force, and a further violation of the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment concerning the lack of an effective investigation.
The case concerned the applicant’s being pepper sprayed by two guards while held in an observational cell in prison. The Court found that the investigation had not carefully addressed whether the legal procedural safeguards for the use of pepper spray had been complied with and considered that the Danish authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment.
In the case of Durukan and Birol v. Türkiye, the Court held that there had been a violation of the freedom of expression.
The case concerned the applicants’ convictions and prison sentences, with the effects of the judgments being suspended, on account of content they had shared on social media.
The Court held that, in view of their potentially chilling effect, the criminal convictions, together with the decisions to suspend the judgments constituted an interference with the applicants’ right to freedom of expression.
Delivered Judgments and Decisions
Grand Chamber News
The Court has accepted the referral to the Grand Chamber of the cases Burando Holding B.V. and Port Invest B.V. v. the Netherlands, Janssen de Jong Groep B.V. and Others v. the Netherlands and Ships Waste Oil Collector B.V. v. the Netherlands.
The three cases concern the transmission of data, lawfully obtained in a criminal investigation, to another law-enforcement authority, the Competition Authority, that used those data in an investigation into the applicant companies’ involvement in price-fixing.
The Court has also decided to reject requests to refer 16 other cases.
In the case of Yüksel Yalçınkaya v. Türkiye the Court held that there had been violations of the right to a fair trial, to no punishment without law and to freedom of association.
The case concerned the trial and conviction of the applicant for membership of the FETÖ/PDY. The trial took place in the aftermath of the attempted coup d’état of 15 July 2016.
The problems which had led to findings of violations were systemic in nature. The ECHR held that Türkiye had to take general measures as appropriate to address those systemic problems, notably with regard to the Turkish judiciary’s approach to Bylock evidence. There are currently approximately 8,500 applications on the Court’s docket involving similar complaints under the right to a fair trial and/or to no punishment without law.
Hearings
The date for the Grand Chamber hearing in the case of Ukraine v. Russia (Crimea) (nos. 20958/14 and 38334/18) has been postponed from 8 November 2023 to 13 December 2023.
The case concerns Ukraine’s allegations of a pattern (“administrative practice”) of violations of the European Convention by the Russian Federation in Crimea beginning in February 2014.
Decisions
The Court has ruled on 21 applications against Norway concerning children taken into public care. It declared 12 of the applications inadmissible, while it held in the nine others that there had been violations of the right to respect for private and family life.
The applications restated guiding principles in respect of children taken into public care. Notably, States had wide discretion when deciding on taking a child into care, but the Court had to carry out “stricter scrutiny” of any further measures taken, such as restricting contact rights. In particular, adoption had to be justified by “exceptional circumstances” and the overriding requirement of the child’s best interests.
Communication of cases
The Court has communicated to the Government of Hungary the application Karsai v. Hungary and has asked them to submit their observations on its admissibility and merits.
The case concerns the right to a self-determined death of a person affected with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a type of motor neurone disease. Given the nature of the case, the Chamber has decided to grant the application priority under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court.
Other News
On 5-7 October, President O’Leary paid an official visit to Spain, accompanied by María Elósegui, Judge elected in respect of Spain, and Abel Campos, Deputy Registrar of the Court.
On 5 October, together with Cándido Conde-Pumpido Tourón, President of the Constitutional Court of Spain, President O’Leary was received in Audience by His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain. On the same day, she delivered a speech at the Constitutional Court of Spain.
On 6 October, the President participated in a conference held at the Complutense University of Madrid as part of the 5th International Congress of the Iberoamerican Union of Universities and Supreme Courts, where she delivered a keynote speech.
At the invitation of the President of the French Constitutional Council, Laurent Fabius, President Síofra O’Leary attended the official ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the Constitution of the French Fifth Republic and of the Constitutional Council, in Paris, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. President O’Leary was accompanied by Mattias Guyomar, Judge elected in respect of France.
On 2 October 2023 President Síofra O’Leary delivered the keynote speech at the official ceremony held at the Constitutional Court of Austria, in Vienna, on the occasion of Constitution Day, in the presence of Alexander Van der Bellen, Federal President of the Republic of Austria. President O’Leary was accompanied by Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, Section President and Judge elected in respect of Austria. On the side of the event, President O’Leary held bilateral meetings with Karoline Edtstadler, Federal Minister for the European Union and Constitution, and Alma Zadić, Federal Minister of Justice.