Judgment concerning Slovakia
In the case of J.S. v. Slovakia, the Court held that there had been a violation of the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment.
The case concerned the alleged failure of the national authorities to effectively investigate and prosecute acts of domestic violence that the applicant had allegedly suffered. It also concerned the alleged discriminatory impact of gender-based violence on women in Slovakia.
The Court found that the first-instance court had failed to analyse the circumstances of the case from a gender-based violence perspective and to make a context-sensitive assessment of the credibility of the various statements. That together with the slow pace of the criminal proceedings amounted to a failure on the part of the authorities. At the same time, the Court held that the deficiencies found in the case could not be considered in themselves to disclose a discriminatory attitude on their part.