Ecrthr case summaries

ECtHR - Djalti v Bulgaria, Application no. 31206/05, 12 March 2013
Country of applicant: Algeria

The ECtHR ruled that the detention of an Algerian national in a Bulgarian detention centre was in breach of Article 5(1) ECHR due to the length of the detention and the lack of diligence by the Bulgarian authorities when taking steps to carry out the applicant’s expulsion, and of Article 5(4) ECHR. Secondly the court considered whether the Bulgarian government had been in breach of Article 5 (4) due to the excessive delay until the applicant’s challenge against his detention was heard before a court. 

Date of decision: 12-03-2013
ECtHR - Amie and Others v. Bulgaria, Application No. 58149/08
Country of applicant: Bulgaria

The case concerns the unlawfulness of the detention pending expulsion for a total period of more than one year and eight months without effective judicial review of one of the applicants, Mr. Abas Amie (Articles 5 § 1, 5 § 4 of the ECHR); and an unlawful interference with the right to respect for family life, in breach of Article 8 of the ECHR, with respect to the other applicants, his family members.

Date of decision: 12-02-2013
ECtHR - Hode and Abdi v. the United Kingdom, Application No. 22341/09
Country of applicant: Djibouti, Somalia

The case concerns discrimination against a refugee and his post-flight wife in the enjoyment of their right to family life because she was not allowed to join him in the UK. This was owed to more restrictive rules for the reunification of the spouses of refugees in comparison to workers or students, or to refugees married at the time of the flight.

Date of decision: 06-02-2013
Moxamed Ismaaciil and Abdirahman Warsame v Malta, Application nos. 52160/13 and 52165/13, 12 January 2013
Country of applicant: Somalia

The holding of two Somali nationals in a Maltese detention centre is declared not to be a violation of Article 3 of the Convention; the cumulative effect of the conditions of detention did not amount to inhuman treatment.  The Court accepted that the detention, although lengthy, fell within Article 5 (1) (f). However, the Court declares a violation of Article 5 (4) as the applicants did not have access to judicial review of the decision to detain them, hence they could not challenge the lawfulness of detention. 

Date of decision: 12-01-2013
ECtHR- Singh and Others v. Belgium, Application no. 33210/11, 2 January 2013
Country of applicant: Afghanistan

The case examined the allegations of the applicants that their deportation to Moscow will entail a real risk of refoulement to Afghanistan where they fear treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention.  Further, it examined the applicants’ complaints of a violation of their right to an effective remedy in conjunction with Article 3, invoking Article 13 of the Convention.

Date of decision: 02-01-2013
ECtHR - De Souza Ribeiro v France [GC], Application No. 22689/07
Country of applicant: Brazil

The case concerns the removal of a Brazilian national residing in French Guiana (a French overseas département-région) and his inability to challenge the measure before its enforcement.

Date of decision: 13-12-2012
ECtHR- Mahmundi and others v. Greece, 14902/10, 24 October 2012
Country of applicant: Afghanistan

The case examined the allegations of five Afghan nationals that their detention conditions in Pagani detention centre were in violation of Article 3 of the Convention, that they did not have access to an effective remedy (Article 13) and that they were deprived of their liberty and security as well as of their right to have the lawfulness of their detention decided speedily by a Court (Article 5 para 4). 

Date of decision: 24-10-2012
ECtHR - Hendrin Ali Said and Aras Ali Said v. Hungary, Application No. 13457/11
Country of applicant: Iraq

The case concerned complaints under Article 5 § 1 by asylum

seekers staying at the Debrecen Reception Centre for Refugees (Hungary) about the unlawfulness of their detention – without effective judicial review – pending the outcome of their asylum claims.

Date of decision: 23-10-2012
ECtHR - Al-Tayyar Abdelhakim v. Hungary, Application No. 13058/11
Country of applicant: Lebanon, Palestinian Territory

The case concerns an asylum seeker’s complaint under Article 5(1) about the unlawfulness of his detention without effective judicial review, pending the outcome of his asylum claim.

Date of decision: 23-10-2012
ECtHR- Labsi v. Slovakia, Application no. 33809/08, 24 September 2012
Country of applicant: Algeria

The European Court of Human Rights held that the expulsion of an Algerian national from Slovakia to Algeria, in contempt of an interim measure issued by the Court, was in violation of Articles 3, 13 and 34 of the Convention.

Date of decision: 24-09-2012