Collective Expulsions The fourth and seventh Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights deal with freedom of movement and the right to choose a residence in the broadest sense. Article 3 of the Protocol prohibits the deportation of nationals and confirms the right of nationals to enter their own country. Article 4 prohibits the collective expulsion of non-nationals. An alien may not be deported […]
Non-nationals The issue of private life comes up frequently in the context of the enforcement of immigration and asylum legislation. Decisions taken by immigration and asylum authorities may have the effect of separating family members or denying entry to family members who seek to come to live with relatives in the respondent country. The court has held that there is no right for a non-national […]
Deprivation of Liberty Khlaifia and Others v. Italy This case concerned the detention in a reception centre on Lampedusa and subsequently on ships moored in Palermo harbour, as well as the repatriation to Tunisia, of clandestine migrants who had landed on the Italian coast in 2011 during the events linked to the “Arab Spring”. The Grand Chamber held that there had been a violation of […]
General The [European] Court [of Human Rights] has held on many occasions that the detention of a person who is ill may raise issues under Article 3 of the [European] Convention [on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment] … and that the lack of appropriate medical care may amount to treatment contrary to that provision … In particular, the assessment of whether the […]
State Accountability In Varnava v. Turkey, the court indicated that where a person has been, appeared to have been taken into custody and was subsequently disappeared, the State had an obligation to effectively investigate the circumstances. The court has emphasised the obligation of the authorities to exercise their powers to control and prevent crime in a manner which fully respects due process and other guarantees […]
Basis for Arrest There must be a criminal offence. It must be definite in accordance with national law. The nature of the proceedings and the offence are relevant. Criminal law includes military law for this purpose (Hood v. United Kingdom). The provisions of the Convention do not generally allow preventative detention. Where the proviso is relied on, there must be evidence that there is a […]
Article 5 Protection On many occasions, the European Court of Human Rights has emphasised the importance of Article 5, protection of personal liberty. The court stresses the fundamental importance of the guarantees contained in Article 5 for securing the rights of individuals in a democracy to be free from arbitrary detention at the hands of the authority. It has stressed in that connection that any […]
Family Life Prisoners continue to enjoy fundamental human rights and freedoms consistent with the deprivation of liberty involved in imprisonment. This includes the right to marry and right to maintain family life. The restrictions must be proportionate in terms of the competing interests of the state and the individual. In Boyle and Rice v. United Kingdom court indicated: When assessing the obligations imposed on the […]