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ECtHR: Communicated case concerning residence and reporting obligations imposed on a stateless person pending return in Denmark
On 10 July 2026, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) communicated the case Jovanovic v. Denmark (Application no. 24677/26), concerning the residence and reporting obligations imposed on the applicant following an expulsion order that could not be implemented, and their alleged incompatibility with Articles 5 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The applicant, who is apparently stateless, has lived in Denmark since arriving there with his mother at the age of three. Following previous criminal proceedings, in 2023 he was ordered to be expelled with a six-year re-entry ban. As his removal could not be carried out, the Return Agency subsequently required him to stay at the Kærshovedgård return centre and to report to the police there three times per week. He was later sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment for failing to comply with those requirements between January and April 2025. The High Court upheld his conviction and permission to appeal to the Supreme Court was refused.
The Court asked the parties whether those obligations amounted to a deprivation of liberty under Article 5 of the Convention, and to an unjustified interference with the applicant’s private life under Article 8 ECHR.