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On 2 July 2026, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) communicated the case Akkaoui v. Denmark (Application no. 21546/26) concerning the residence and reporting obligations imposed on the applicant at a return centre following an expulsion order that could not be implemented, and their alleged incompatibility with Articles 3, 5 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The applicant, a stateless Palestinian from Lebanon, entered Denmark with his parents in 1986 at the age of eight. He was ordered to be expelled with a permanent re-entry ban in 2014, but the Danish authorities were unable to implement the expulsion order as it had not been possible to deport him to Lebanon. In 2018, the Aliens Board ordered him to reside at the return centre (Kærshovedgård) during the night and to report to the police at the centre three times per week. Following further criminal convictions and expulsion orders, the applicant was convicted in April 2025 for failing to comply with the residence and reporting obligations between 2020 and 2024 and was sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment. The conviction was upheld by the High Court, and permission to appeal to the Supreme Court was refused in January 2026.

The Court asked the parties whether the applicant had exhausted domestic remedies in respect of his complaint and if the High Court’s judgment was in breach of Articles 3, 5 and 8 ECHR.