Inadmissibility decision concerning Italy
The Court has declared inadmissible the application in the case of S.S. and Others v. Italy.
The case concerned a maritime operation to rescue a rubber dinghy transporting some 150 people which had left Libya with a view to reaching European shores. The applicants complained that the Rome Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) had placed them at risk of ill-treatment and death by allowing a Libyan ship to take control of the rescue operations.
The Court found that the criteria for concluding that a State Party had exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction for the purposes of Article 1 of the Convention had not been met in the circumstances of the case.
The Court emphasised that, although the conditions for concluding that a State party had exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction under Article 1 of the Convention were not met, the situation here was nonetheless governed by other rules of international law, in particular those regarding the rescue of persons at sea, the protection of refugees and State responsibility. The Court reiterated, however, that the scope of its authority was limited to ensuring compliance with the Convention alone. It therefore did not have the authority to ensure compliance with other international treaties or with obligations deriving from sources other than the Convention.