ECtHR decision on detention of migrant woman

The European Court of Human Rights has entered the first ruling in a case which involves the placement of a migrant woman in a guarded centre in Poland (Dzhabrailova v. Poland, no. 78244/11, decision of 9 September 2014).

In her application, the migrant submitted that Polish Government had violated Article 5 of the Convention by groundlessly placing her in a guarded facility for a period of about six months. After the case was communicated, the Government agreed to pay to the applicant a compensation for any moral and financial losses she had suffered.

“For a prolonged period of time, non-governmental organisations have been emphasising that in Poland migrants are automatically detained. Even though the Strasbourg Court’s decision applies to one individual case only, the Court will clearly be taking on more and more similar cases now”, said Jacek Białas, the HFHR lawyer who was one of the counsel for the applicant.

In the decision, the ECtHR confirmed the settlement between the applicant and the Polish Government. Accordingly, the case was stricken from the Strasbourg Court’s docket.