ECHR upholds two and overrules two Danish deportations
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday issued judgements on four cases related to foreign nationals sentenced to deportation after being found guilty of crimes in Denmark.
Two of the convicted foreign nationals cannot be deported under the Council of Europe’s human rights convention, while the other two sentences can be upheld, the court found.
Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights was applied in the cases, relating to respect for privacy and family life.
Each of the four individuals has lived in Denmark since they were children.
In two of the cases, the ECHR ruled that the ruling was in violation of article 8, while the other two found that the deportation rulings did not encroach upon the individuals’ right to a family and private life.
The four men in question have criminal convictions for rape, robbery, and repeated convictions for violence and drugs related offences.
The human rights question is related to their strong personal connection to Denmark and almost no connection to the country of their heritage.
Prior to the verdicts, an expert said that their outcome could set a precedent for future cases in Denmark.
“The cases are interesting for Denmark because Danish law on deportation is effectively the ECHR’s article 8,” Louise Halleskov, PhD and professor at the Department of Law at Aarhus University, told news wire Ritzau.
“All verdicts that are given therefore have an impact on the ability to deport criminal foreigners from Denmark,” Halleskov said on Monday.
“In cases involving foreigners who have spent the majority of their lives in Denmark, a pattern is forming that that the ECHR attaches importance to whether a warning has been given before deportation, the length of any re-entry ban and a genuine lack of connection to the country of heritage,” she said after the verdicts on Tuesday.
“We now have three rulings, these two and one from 2021, where the ECHR has placed importance on the same thing,” she said
The two persons who lost their cases continued to commit serious crimes even though they had been told by Danish courts that there was a risk of deportation if they continued to commit crimes, she noted.
The two who won their cases, both from Afghanistan, committed crimes when very young but did not repeat offend for a number of years and did not receive such warnings related to deportation.
Of the two who lost their cases, one is from Iraq and the other from Congo.
Formed in 1959, the remit of the ECHR is to ensure that members of the 46-nation Council of Europe comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.
That means people who live in countries which are part of the Council of Europe can appeal to the court if they believe that human rights are being violated. Member states have the same right of appeal.
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Two of the convicted foreign nationals cannot be deported under the Council of Europe’s human rights convention, while the other two sentences can be upheld, the court found.
Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights was applied in the cases, relating to respect for privacy and family life.
Each of the four individuals has lived in Denmark since they were children.
In two of the cases, the ECHR ruled that the ruling was in violation of article 8, while the other two found that the deportation rulings did not encroach upon the individuals’ right to a family and private life.
The four men in question have criminal convictions for rape, robbery, and repeated convictions for violence and drugs related offences.
The human rights question is related to their strong personal connection to Denmark and almost no connection to the country of their heritage.
Prior to the verdicts, an expert said that their outcome could set a precedent for future cases in Denmark.
“The cases are interesting for Denmark because Danish law on deportation is effectively the ECHR’s article 8,” Louise Halleskov, PhD and professor at the Department of Law at Aarhus University, told news wire Ritzau.
“All verdicts that are given therefore have an impact on the ability to deport criminal foreigners from Denmark,” Halleskov said on Monday.
“In cases involving foreigners who have spent the majority of their lives in Denmark, a pattern is forming that that the ECHR attaches importance to whether a warning has been given before deportation, the length of any re-entry ban and a genuine lack of connection to the country of heritage,” she said after the verdicts on Tuesday.
“We now have three rulings, these two and one from 2021, where the ECHR has placed importance on the same thing,” she said
The two persons who lost their cases continued to commit serious crimes even though they had been told by Danish courts that there was a risk of deportation if they continued to commit crimes, she noted.
The two who won their cases, both from Afghanistan, committed crimes when very young but did not repeat offend for a number of years and did not receive such warnings related to deportation.
Of the two who lost their cases, one is from Iraq and the other from Congo.
Formed in 1959, the remit of the ECHR is to ensure that members of the 46-nation Council of Europe comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.
That means people who live in countries which are part of the Council of Europe can appeal to the court if they believe that human rights are being violated. Member states have the same right of appeal.
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