According to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as the ECHR): ‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’. This article imposes, inter alia, an obligation on the State to ensure the protection of the right not to be subjected to degrading or inhuman treatment. Issues of inhuman and degrading treatment arise inter alia when States fail to ensure adequate living conditions for persons seeking international protection (see more on the content of Article 3 of the ECHR).
Article 13 of the ECHR (right of effective remedy) establishes that, “Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.” It also imposes an obligation on the state to provide appropriate remedies and means for this purpose (see more on Article 13).
On 30 November 2023 the judgment in the case of D.S v Greece (application no. 2080/19) was delivered.
The judgment in question concerns the applicant’s living conditions in the Samos refugee camp and the absence of an effective remedy to challenge and remedy those conditions. The ECtHR, ruling on the merits of the case, concluded that in this particular case there had been a violation of both Article 3 ECHR (see more in para. 53-58 of the judgment, where reference is made to the Court’s finding that the authorities had not done everything that could reasonably be expected of them in order to ensure decent material conditions for the applicant) and Article 13 ECHR (see more in paras. 63 and 64 of the judgment, where reference is made to the Court’s finding that the State failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 13 of the Convention).
Finally, we note that the applicant’s other claims were rejected on the basis of Article 35 ECHR (see more in paragraphs 30-35, 36-41, 42-48, 59-62 of the judgment).
You can also read more about the case in the Press Release from the Greek Council for Refugees.
Respect for fundamental rights is one of the basic components of the rule of law.
The fundamental rights that every human being should enjoy are enshrined, inter alia, in the European Convention on Human Rights. It is a primary and undeniable obligation of the State to respect these rights.
In this particular case, however, the European Court of Human Rights held that there was a violation of Articles 3 and 13 of the ECHR because of the living conditions in the Samos camp and the lack of access to an effective remedy to address those conditions.
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