In the case of M.B. v. Greece, the ECtHR condemned Greece for a violation of Article 3 ECHR because of the living conditions of a pregnant applicant for international protection in the Samos Reception and Identification Centre.
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).
On 23 November 2023 the judgment in the case of M.B. v. Greece (application no. 8389/2020) was delivered.
The case chiefly concerns the living conditions of the applicant, a woman who was pregnant at the time of lodging her application with the Court, at the Reception and Identification Centre of Samos.
The ECtHR taking into account, inter alia:
(i) the fact that the applicant remained in the Samos Detention Centre for approximately 4 months, a period during which she was in advanced pregnancy and therefore in need of special care; and
(ii) the statements of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (see paragraph 18 of the decision), the findings of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (see paragraphs 20-21 of the decision) and the observations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (see paragraphs 15-16 of the decision) concerning the conditions prevailing in the Samos Detention Centre during the period in question, concluded that in this particular case there was a violation of Article 3 of the ECHR, as the situation prevailing in the Samos Centre subjected the applicant to treatment that exceeded the threshold of gravity required for triggering Article 3 of the Convention.
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.
However, in this particular case, the European Court of Human Rights held that there was a violation of Article 3 of the ECHR due to the applicant’s living conditions in the Samos Reception and Identification Centre, stating, inter alia, that the reception conditions in the Centre and in the informal settlement zone were incompatible with the right to an adequate standard of living.
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