Criminal Archives

The exploitation of women for prostitution is part of the prohibitions in Article 4 of the ECHR and the victim’s consent is no importance to the responsibilities of the state or the perpetrator

Article 4
13/09/2018 06:55

JUDGMENT S.M. v. Croatia 19.07.2018 (no. 60561/14) see here SUMMARY The applicant had argued that a former police officer had forced her into prostitution for several months. The national courts considered that her involvement in sexual services was voluntary and freed the accused. The Strasbourg Court first applied Article 4 of the ECHR to the […]

Russia committed multiple violations of the European Convention owing to Pussy Riot punk band convictions and imprisonment

Article 10
12/09/2018 13:29

JUDGMENT Mariya Alekhina and othersv. Russia 17.07.2018 (no. 38004/12) see here SUMMARY The case Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia (application no. 38004/12) concerned the conviction and imprisonment of three members of the Pussy Riot punk band for attempting to perform one of their protest songs in a Moscow cathedral in 2012. The courts ruled […]

Τorture during police detention, ineffective investigation and breaches of family life

Article 3
12/09/2018 12:03

JUDGMENT Abdulkadyrov and Dakhtayev v. Russia 10.07.2018 (no. 35061/04) see here SUMMARY Ill treatment during police detention, lack of effective investigation that led to conviction and detention far away from the applicants’ families. Not registered violent detention (electric shock while wearing gas masks or bags on their heads, and threats of rape and blackmail). Infringement […]

Allegations of police violence by a person injured on the day of a demonstration were unfounded

Article 3
12/09/2018 10:43

JUDGMENT Lazaridou v. Greece 28.6.2018 (no 59142/16) see here SUMMARY The case concerned physical injuries sustained by Ms Lazaridou on the day of a demonstration organised against the austerity measures imposed by the Government. Ms Lazaridou, who was injured in the arm by shards of glass, blamed her injuries on the police officers of a […]

Conviction for bribery as a result of a secret police operation

Article 6
12/09/2018 10:34

JUDGMENT Tchokhonelidze v. Georgia 28.6.2018 (no. 31536/07) see here SUMMARY Sentence of a senior regional Government official for bribery. Result of a secret business. Inability of courts to challenge the applicant’s claim to be trapped. Request of the accused for the examination of an additional witness, another secret police officer. The National Courts tried, but […]

Sentencing a journalist for defamation of a local politician. Violation of freedom of expression

Article 10
12/09/2018 10:26

JUDGMENT Paraskevopoulos v. Greece 28.6.2018 (no. 64184/11) see here SUMMARY Mr Paraskevopoulos wrote a newspaper article in December 2007 accusing people who had become involved in politics of abusing their position by, among other things, obstructing public land next to their own property by planting trees on it and by building a gazebo that jutted […]

Sexual abuse of children at the “Casa Pia”: criminal proceedings gave rise to a violation for refusal to admit evidence on appeal

Article 6
12/09/2018 09:59

JUDGMENT Pereira Cruz and others v. Portugal 26.06.2018 (no. 56396/12) see here SUMMARY The case concerned the existence of a paedophile ring at the Casa Pia, a public institution responsible for the education of children from deprived backgrounds. In the Court’s opinion, the fact that witnesses had retracted their initial statements during questioning at a […]

Arresting and fining a journalist who shared classified military information without publishing it was disproportionate

Article 10
12/09/2018 09:49

JUDGMENT Gîrleanu v. Romania 26.06.2018 (no. 50376/09) see here SUMMARY The case concerned the arrest and conviction of a journalist for possessing and trying to verify classified information on national security, namely documents belonging to a Romanian military unit based in Afghanistan. The Court found in particular that Mr Gîrleanu had been arrested, a criminal […]

Death of man after restraint by police: authorities found negligent

Article 2
12/09/2018 08:49

JUDGMENT Semache v. France 21.6.2018 (no. 36083/16) see here SUMMARY The case concerned the death of the applicant’s father, Mr Ziri, following his arrest by the police and his detention in Argenteuil police station. The Court found in particular that the restraining of Mr Ziri by a “double-seated embrace” technique, during his transfer by car […]

No fair trial if steps not taken to compensate for lack of possibility to test the credibility of direct witnesses

Art. 6 - Par. 1
11/09/2018 10:17

JUDGMENT T.K. v. Lithuania 12.06.2018 (no. 14000/12) see here SUMMARY The case concerned the applicant’s glasses being taken away from him for several months during criminal proceedings against him and his being prevented from examining key witnesses, particularly his former partner. The Court found that the length of time he had been left without spectacles, […]

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