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.L. v Greece (application no. 8386/20) was delivered.
The case concerns mainly 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 stayed at the Samos Centre for more than 3 months, as well as the fact that during that period she was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and therefore in need of specialised care; and
(ii) the statements of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (see paragraph 20 of the decision), the findings of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (see paragraphs 22-23 of the decision) and the observations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (see paragraphs 17-18 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 at the Samos Detention 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 Detention Centre, stating, inter alia, that the reception conditions in the Detention Centre and in the area of the informal settlement were not compatible with the right to an adequate standard of living.
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