Case Law

The applicant complained that the Slovakian authorities, having arrested him after he had crossed from Ukraine, had failed to inform him of the reasons for his arrest, in violation of Article 5 § 2 of the Convention. They had then returned him to Ukraine, where he had been detained in inadequate conditions in disregard of his alleged status as a minor, in breach of Article 3. He had been unable to participate effectively in the proceedings concerning his detention, and had eventually been returned to Afghanistan in the absence of an adequate assessment of the risks he had faced there, in breach of Article 3, Article 5 §§ 1, 2 and 4, and Article 13 of the Convention. Lastly, he alleged, under Article 34, that an NGO representative had been denied access to him in Ukraine, preventing him from lodging an application for an interim measure with the Court.

11 June 2020 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Legal Instrument: 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) | Topic(s): Children's rights - Expulsion - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Immigration Detention - Legal representation / Legal aid - Rejected asylum-seekers | Countries: Afghanistan - Slovakia - Ukraine

The applicants alleged that their expulsion to Ukraine had been collective in nature and that they had not had an effective remedy in respect of it. In particular, they alleged that the State authorities had not carried out an individual assessment and examination of their cases and had denied them access to the asylum procedure.

24 March 2020 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Legal Instrument: 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) | Topic(s): Access to procedures - Expulsion | Countries: Afghanistan - Slovakia

Art 3 ECHR • Expulsion • No risk of ill-treatment in case of removal of Afghan Sikhs to Afghanistan • Adequate assessment of the risks by the domestic authorities • No compelling humanitarian grounds against removal. See also joint partly dissenting opinion on the assessment by the domestic authorities of the foreseeable consequences of the applications to Afghanistan.

25 February 2020 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Legal Instrument: 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) | Topic(s): Expulsion - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Refugee status determination (RSD) / Asylum procedures - Sikh | Countries: Afghanistan - Netherlands

8 December 2015 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Topic(s): Children's rights - Expulsion - Right to family life | Countries: Afghanistan - Italy - Switzerland

19 February 2015 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: High Court (England and Wales) | Topic(s): Arbitrary arrest and detention - Asylum-seekers - Expulsion | Countries: Afghanistan - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

10 February 2015 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Topic(s): Access to procedures - Expulsion - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Prison or detention conditions - Terrorism | Countries: Afghanistan - Romania

26 November 2014 | Judicial Body: UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) | Topic(s): Children's rights - Deportation / Forcible return - Effective remedy - Expulsion - Right to family life | Countries: Afghanistan - Denmark

See further Committee of Minister (CM) decisions of September 2016 and June 2017 available at: http://hudoc.exec.coe.int/eng?i=CM/Del/Dec(2016)1265/H46-16 ; http://hudoc.exec.coe.int/eng?i=CM/Del/Dec(2017)1288/H46-17E) and Italian authorities submission of Sept. 2017 ( available at: http://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168075968c); the Communication by Italian Government Action plan (https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168091f978 ); and the decision by the Committee of Ministers of 5 March 2020 (available at: https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=09000016809cc879)

21 October 2014 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Topic(s): Access to procedures - Effective remedy - Expulsion - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Non-refoulement - Refoulement - Rescue at sea / Interception at sea | Countries: Afghanistan - Eritrea - Greece - Italy - Sudan

3 July 2014 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Topic(s): Arbitrary arrest and detention - Asylum-seekers - Deportation / Forcible return - Expulsion - Non-refoulement - Refugee status determination (RSD) / Asylum procedures - Regional instruments - Safe third country | Countries: Afghanistan - Austria - Hungary - Serbia