Title	M.N. and Others against Belgium (Application no. 3599/18) Grand Chamber Decision
Publisher	Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights
Publication Date	5 May 2020
Country	Belgium | Lebanon | Syrian Arab Republic
Topics	Access to procedures | Decision on admissibility | Effective remedy | Jurisdiction | Visas
Citation / Document Symbol	ECLI:CE:ECHR:2020:0505DEC000359918
Other Languages / Attachments	French | Legal Summary
Cite as	M.N. and Others against Belgium (Application no. 3599/18) Grand Chamber Decision, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2020:0505DEC000359918 , Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 5 May 2020, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,5eb3d2624.html [accessed 18 May 2023]
Comments	The Court reiterated that Article 1 (obligation to respect human rights) of the European Convention limited its scope to persons within the jurisdiction of the States Parties to the Convention. In the present case, it noted that the applicants were not within Belgium’s jurisdiction in respect of the circumstances complained of under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention. The Court also considered that Article 6 § 1 of the Convention was inapplicable in the present case. The entry to Belgian territory which would have resulted from the visas being issued did not engage a “civil” right within the meaning of Article 6 § 1. Lastly, the Court noted that this conclusion did not prejudice the endeavours being made by the States Parties to facilitate access to asylum procedures through their embassies and/or consular representations.
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