Committee of Ministers decision following the case of M.A v France

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Date: 
Thursday, December 5, 2019

The Committee of Ministers (CM) recently published its decision following the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) in the case of M.A. v France.

The case concerned the removal of an Algerian national who had been charged with terrorist related offences.  The Court ruled that, at the time of the applicant’s removal, there was a real and serious risk that the applicant would face treatment contrary to Article 3 ECHR. Moreover, the Court found that the interim measures had not been observed and that the French authorities had created conditions whereby the applicant would have found it very difficult to apply to the Court for second interim measures. The State had therefore deliberately lowered the level of protection guaranteed by the ECHR.

In its decision, the CM recalled the vital role of interim measures. As concerns individual measures, the CM again invited the French authorities to employ all means to obtain concrete information on the applicant’s situation in detention. As concerns general measures relating to Article 3 ECHR, the CM requested that the authorities provide more concrete information to show than an individual and substantive examinations of the risk incurred in cases of removal are conducted for individuals with profiles similar to the applicant in M.A. v France. Regarding Article 34 ECHR, the CM urged authorities to inform them of measures adopted or in consideration to enable individuals who face expulsion to apply effectively to the Court and requested authorities adopt awareness raising measures recalling the States’ obligations to comply with interim measures. The CM finally invited the authorities to submit any updated information by the end of June 2020.


This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the ELENA Weekly Legal Update. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is pusexblished but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE.

 

Keywords: 
Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
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