R.T. v Greece (no. 5124/11), [Articles 3, 5, & 13 ECHR], 11 February 2016

Date: 
Thursday, February 11, 2016

The case of R.T. v. Greece relates to an Iranian national of Kurdish origin who arrived in Greece in October 2010, where he was arrested for illegal entry and detained at the Tychero border post. An order was made for his expulsion to Turkey and his detention for a maximum of 6 months pending deportation, due to him posing a flight risk. He was able to register an asylum application on 25 November 2010. In January 2011 he submitted objections to an administrative court challenging the conditions and lawfulness of his detention, which was dismissed. On 10 January 2011 the Greek authorities ‘inadvertently’ deported him to Turkey, and following action from NGOs and UNHCR, he was subsequently returned to Greece. He challenged his expulsion and detention order, stating that he would be at risk of persecution for political reasons in Iran but requested the facilitation of his return to Iraq so that he could attend his son’s funeral. As a result he was released with an order to leave the territory within 30 days and his asylum application was rejected.

In relation to his detention conditions, the Court considered that the reports by Greek and international organisations showed that the applicant did not have sufficient living space due to overcrowding, leading to a violation of Article 3 ECHR. The Court found that the Greek authorities had returned the applicant to Turkey, without checking whether his asylum claim was still pending.  Thus he had no access to a reliable asylum procedure for examination of his application, demonstrating the failings of the Greek asylum system at that time, and leading to a violation of Article 13 ECHR.

There was no violation of Article 5(1) ECHR, given that the applicant was detained according to domestic law for the purpose of preventing irregular stay and pending expulsion. He was detained for three months which was not considered excessive. However, in line with its recent case law, the Court found a violation of Article 5(4) due to the ineffectiveness of judicial review of detention in Greece.

Based on an unofficial ELENA translation.


This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the weekly ELENA legal update supported by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Funding Programme and distributed by email. 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 published but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE, the IRC or its partners.

                                                     

 

Keywords: 
Detention
Effective access to procedures
Effective remedy (right to)
Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Material reception conditions
Reception conditions