Ilias and Ahmed v. Hungary (referral)

Information Note on the Court’s case-law 210

August-September 2017

Ilias and Ahmed v. Hungary (referral) - 47287/15

Judgment 14.3.2017 [Section IV]

Article 5

Article 5-1

Deprivation of liberty

Twenty-three days’ de facto confinement in transit zone: case referred to the Grand Chamber

Article 3

Inhuman treatment

Expulsion

Expulsion to Serbia: case referred to the Grand Chamber

The applicants, Bangladeshi nationals, arrived in the transit zone situated on the border between Hungary and Serbia and submitted applications for asylum. Their applications were rejected and they were escorted back to Serbia.

In the Convention proceedings, they complained, inter alia, that their deprivation of liberty in the transit zone had been unlawful, that the conditions of their allegedly unlawful detention had been inadequate and that their expulsion to Serbia had exposed them to a real risk of inhuman and degrading treatment.

In a judgment of 14 March 2017 a Chamber of the Court held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 3 as regards the applicants’ expulsion to Serbia and a violation of Article 5 § 1. In the Court’s view the Hungarian authorities had, in breach of Article 3, disregarded country reports and other evidence submitted by the applicants, imposed an unfair and excessive burden of proof and had failed to provide them with sufficient information. As regards Article 5 § 1, the applicants had been deprived of their liberty without any formal decision of the authorities solely by virtue of an elastically interpreted general provision of the law.

The Court also held, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 3 as regards the conditions of detention in the transit zone, but violations of Article 5 § 4 and Article 13 taken together with Article 3.

On 18 September 2017 the case was referred to the Grand Chamber at the Government’s request.

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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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