Juridiction : Council of Europe – European Court of Human Rights
Country : France
Subject : Precarious living conditions of unaccompanied foreign minor in a shantytown and failure to execute judicial placement order: violation
Several unaccompanied minors, including Mr. Khan, 12 years old at the time, lived for several months in the slum of the Lande ("Jungle") of Calais in the north of France, in unacceptable conditions. The camp was dismantled several times in 2016, which led to a deterioration of Mr. Khan's living conditions there.
In November 2015, the local urgent applications judge ordered the authorities to make an assessment of the number of unaccompanied minors and to organise their assistance through access to child welfare services. The authorities (the Ministry of the Interior) appealed and the French Conseil d’Etat, the highest administrative jurisdiction in France, rejected this appeal. According to the French Ombudsman (Défenseur des droits), the census was carried out but did not lead to the unaccompanied minors being adequately taken care of. An NGO present on the camp helped Mr. Khan to apply to the Children’s Judge, who ordered the provisional placement of the unaccompanied minor on 23rd February, 2016. No action was taken by the authorities to implement this decision, on the pretext that Mr. Khan did not show up for the appointments he had received. Mr. Khan left France in March 2016 and moved to England, where he was taken in charge by the child protection services.
Before leaving France, Mr. Khan had filed on 2nd March, 2016, in the context of evacuation operations of the camp, a complaint in front of the ECHR, with fourteen other minors. The complaint refers to Articles 3 and 8 ECHR and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 relating to prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment, the right to respect for private and family life, and the right to peaceful enjoyment of property. Within a week, despite the request of NGOs, the ECHR issued its decision not to require interim measures from the French public authorities, considering that measures were already being implemented following the judgement of the Children’s Judge.
In its judgement of 28th February, 2019, the ECHR:
• states that the non-intervention of the public authorities, before the decision of the Children's Judge, to identify and guarantee the assistance to unaccompanied minors present on the camp represents a breach of the obligations made to Member States by the European Convention on Human Rights in its Article 3. It considers that the public authorities did not do everything in their power to fulfill their obligations related to taking care of unaccompanied minors
• Condemns the non-enforcement of the judgment of the Children’s Judge, considering that it is a breach of the responsibility of the competent public authorities
• The circumstances in which Mr. Khan lived for six months, combined with the above-mentioned facts, constitute inhuman and degrading treatment, as prohibited by Article 3 of the ECHR.
• Considers it unnecessary to rule on the other complaints raised (Article 8 ECHR and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1)
• Orders the French State to pay Mr. Khan €15,000
Legal basis : Article 3 ECHR (inhuman and degrading treatment)
To learn more : http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-191587 (In French)
