ECtHR, XX v. Slovakia, No. 33809/08, 2012
- 2012
- Slovakia
Topics
Membership in a terrorist organisationLegal bases
European Convention on Human RightsCourts
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)Laws
Torture, degrading and inhuman and treatment Right to an effective remedy Right of individual petitionFacts
The applicant, an Algerian national, was convicted in France of preparing a terrorist act from Slovakia following his unsuccessful asylum request. The applicant lodged asylum requests on the ground that, because he had been convicted in Algeria in 2005 in his absence of membership of a terrorist organisation and sentenced to life imprisonment, he risked being ill-treated in Algeria. In 2010 the Supreme Court of Slovakia dismissed his asylum request, holding in particular that even if the applicant faced a real risk of inhuman treatment, subsidiary protection could not be granted to him, as he represented a safety risk in Slovakia, on account of his conviction in France of involvement in a terrorist organisation. Following the decision, the applicant was expelled to Algeria in 2010, despite the fact that the ECtHR had issued an interim measure in 2008 to the effect that he should not be extradited before the final outcome of his asylum case before the Constitutional Court. The applicant complained before the ECtHR that his expulsion exposed him to the threat of being ill-treated by Algerian authorities.
Legal grounds
Article 3 of the ECHR, Article 13 of the ECHR, Article 34 of the ECHR.
Findings
The Court found that at the time of his expulsion, there had been substantial grounds for believing that he faced a real risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 in Algeria. The Slovak Government’s argument that the expulsion was justified because the applicant represented a security risk could not be accepted, as the guarantees under Article 3 are absolute. The Court held that his expulsion to Algeria violated Article 3.