Jeddi v Italy: Detention pending expulsion did not violate Article 5 § 1

Date: 
Thursday, January 9, 2020

On 9 January 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) published its judgment on administrative detention pending expulsion in the case of Jeddi v Italy (No. 42086/14).

Italian police arrested the applicant, a Tunisian national, after they arrived on the Island of Lampedusa clandestinely and without identity documents. Shortly after, they were issued with a removal order and placed in an identification and expulsion centre pending removal, during which time the applicant applied for international protection. While the application was rejected, the Naples District Court found that the applicant was entitled to a residence permit on humanitarian grounds, valid until 31 December 2012. In December 2011, the applicant made an application for international protection in Switzerland and was subsequently returned to Italy under the Dublin Regulation. He was detained in the Milan identification and expulsion centre for 14 days pending his removal. He complained that his detention, which was ordered in spite of the judgment from Naples District Court, was contrary to Article 5 §§ 1 and 4.

The Court observed, inter alia, that the applicant was responsible for taking steps to obtain a residence permit, to which he was entitled. By leaving Italy to make a parallel asylum application in Switzerland the Court found that the applicant had shown a lack of due diligence in this regard. It added that had the applicant provided the judgment from the Naples District Court at the time of their return to Italy he would not have been immediately detained pending removal. Moreover, the Court noted that there may have been a legitimate concern that the applicant would later evade expulsion by leaving the country again. It concluded that applicant’s detention in this case was compliant with the law and not arbitrary. The Court found no violation of Article 5 § 1.

Based on an unofficial translation by the EWLU team. Photo: Neon Tommy, November 2006, Flickr (CC)


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: 
Detention
Dublin Transfer
Return