Update on Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights Affecting Criminal Law / Criminal Procedure
| Author | Richard Lang |
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441000100409 |
| Published date | 01 December 2010 |
| Date | 01 December 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Update |
522 Intersentia
UPDATE
UPDATE ON DECISIONS OF THE
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
AFFECTING CRIMINAL LAW /
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
R L*1
For ease of readi ng, certai n cases have been omitted from this su mmary. ey are cases
solely concerning the length of proceedings, cases solely concerning the presence of a
militar y judge on the bench, cases solely concerning the cen sorship of le tters, and other
“repetitive” or “recurrent ” cases which disclose no new poi nt of law.
Ciorap v. Moldova (No 3)
Date of judgment: 20 July 2010
Violation of Article 3 where the Supreme Court of Moldova had awarded a victim of
police brutality only 613 euro in compensation. e European Court of Human Rights
commended the Moldovan court’s nding of inhuman treatment where a sick prisoner
had been severely beaten a nd denied access to medical treat ment; however, the
damages awarded were “considerably below the mi nimum”, meaning that Mr Ciorap
was still a v ictim of an Article 3 violation for the pur poses of the Convention.
AA v. Greece
Date of judgment: 22 July 2010
Violation of Article 3 where a Palestin ian asylum-se eker was held in squal id conditions
for three months while his application was processed. e European Court found that
the conditions at the Samos detention ce ntre were overcrowded, cramped and dirty;
the bathroom facilities – intended to be shared by men and women – were in a state of
disrepair, a nd infectious diseases were prevalent. ese conditions a mounted to an
“insult to human di gnity”. Two violations of Article 5 were als o found, with regard to
the lack of judicial review and, in any event, the i mpossibility for the detainees at t he
centre to receive legal assist ance (Article 5(4)), as well as the exc essive duration of the
detention itself (Article 5(1)).
* BA(Hons), LL.M, Ph.D. Senior Lecturer, School of Law, e University of Bedfordshire. Of Cou nsel,
Kemmler Rapp Böh lke & Crosby, Brussels.
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