The European Court of Human Rights accepted the appeal of the Hungarian Government, and in consequence, the Grand Chamber may decide on the case of the two Bangladeshi asylum-seekers who have since disappeared from the sight of the Hungarian authorities.

The European Court of Human Rights adopted a judgement on the case of two Bangladeshi asylum-seekers (Ilias Ilias and Ahmed Ali), who were expelled from Hungary on 15 September 2015 on the basis of the new asylum regulations and who stayed on the premises of the Röszke transit zone for the duration of the assessment of their appeals, on 14 March 2017. The applicants have left for an unknown destination since.

Based on the European Convention on Human Rights, the parties may request the presentation of a case to the Grand Chamber if the case raises a material issue concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention or the attached protocols, or any other material issue which is otherwise of general significance. A panel of 5 judges decides on the application.

The Hungarian Government submitted its application within the applicable time limit, on 14 June 2017, and as a result, the judgement did not become final and absolute.

The Panel decided on the subject-matter of the application on 18 September 2017, and its decision was disclosed to the public on 19 September 2017. The appeal of the Hungarian Government proved to be successful. The Panel decided on the referral of the case to the Grand Chamber, in acceptance of the argument cited by the Hungarian Government in its submission. In this they referred to the legal shortcomings and contradictions of the Chamber’s judgement, as well as to the factual errors it contained.

In the wake of the Panel’s decision, the Hungarian Government will be able to outline its arguments which verify that the placement of the asylum-seekers does not qualify as detention and that they had adequate guarantees at their disposal during the course of the assessment of their applications in a procedure to be conducted before the Grand Chamber within the framework of a protocol to be determined by the Court later. According to the position of the Hungarian Government, the Hungarian regulations and the measures implemented in connection therewith are in harmony with the law of the European Union, do not violate human rights, and are not contrary to the Convention.

The date of the hearing will be scheduled at a later point in time.

(Ministry of Justice)