issued by the Registrar of the Court
ECHR 397 (2022)
20.12.2022
Judgments and decisions of 20 December 2022
The European Court of Human Rights has today given notification in writing of five judgments1 and
two decisions2:
one Chamber judgment is summarised below;
three separate press releases have been issued for Chamber judgments in the cases of Zemmour
v. France (application no. 63539/19), Bakoyanni v. Greece (no. 31012/19), and Moraru and Marin
v. Romania (nos. 53282/18 and 31428/20);
one Committee judgment, concerning issues which have already been examined by the Court, and
The judgment summarised below is available only in English.
S.H. v. Malta (application no. 37241/21)
The applicant, Mr S.H., is a Bangladeshi national who was born in 1999 and lives in Msida (Malta).
Mr S.H. arrived in Malta by boat in September 2019 and was immediately placed in detention. He
lodged an application for international protection, submitting that he was a journalist in Bangladesh,
who had been persecuted after he reported on electoral irregularities in the 2018 elections. The case
concerns the procedure leading to the refusal of his asylum requests.
His removal to Bangladesh was stayed in August 2021 when the European Court of Human Rights
issued an urgent interim measure (under Rule 39 of its Rules of Court) to the Government of Malta.
Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on
Human Rights, Mr S.H. complains that the Maltese authorities failed to properly assess his claims, in
particular, the risks that he, as a journalist, would face upon being returned to Bangladesh.
He also alleges under Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), taken in conjunction with Article 3,
that the asylum procedure was deficient, in particular with regard to his access to legal counsel,
delays and a failure to examine the merits of his case.
Interim measure (Rule 39 of the Rules of Court): still in force until the present judgment becomes
final or until further notice
Violation of Article 13 in conjunction with Article 3
Violation of Article 3 – should the applicant be returned to Bangladesh without a fresh assessment
of his claim
Just satisfaction:
non-pecuniary damage: 5,000 euros (EUR)
1
Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, Chamber judgments are not final. During the three-month period following a judgment’s
delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five
judges considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final
judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day. Under Article 28 of the Convention,
judgments delivered by a Committee are final.
Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of its execution.
Further information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution.
2
Inadmissibility and strike-out decisions are final.
