Judgment of the ECtHR in "ND and N.T. v. Spain"

Grand Chamber to rule on push-backs at EU borders

4:30 pm, Thursday, February 13, in Madrid
at Círculo de Bellas Artes (room María Zambrano), Calle de Alcalá 42

The press conference will be held in Spanish and livestreamed via Twitter @ECCHRBerlin.

Wolfgang Kaleck, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, Berlin
Hanaa Hakiki, ECCHR, Berlin
Gonzalo Boye, lawyer, Madrid
José Palazón, photographer and founder of PRODEIN, Melilla

On February 13, 2020, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg will announce its judgment in ND and NT v. Spain. This is the first case to challenge push-backs along the European Union’s external land borders. These immediate expulsions, without procedure or legal safeguards, violate international law.

In October 2017, a chamber of seven ECtHR judges condemned Spain’s long-standing practice of push-backs at the Moroccan border, and concluded that it violates the European Convention on Human Rights. Upon Spain’s request, the court’s Grand Chamber heard the case in September 2018.

The proceedings were prompted by applications by ND (a Malian citizen) and NT (a citizen of the Ivory Coast) against Spain in February 2015, with ECCHR’s support. The applicants are represented in court by ECCHR cooperation lawyers Carsten Gericke (Hamburg) and Gonzalo Boye (Madrid).

Please find a description of the case, the legal background, and videos as well as quotes from ND and NT v. Spain here.

Should you not be able to attend the press conference in Madrid, the speakers are available for interviews and statements by phone.

We kindly ask you to register via email at bermejo@ecchr.eu

To counter injustice with legal interventions – this is the aim and daily work of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

ECCHR is an independent, non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to enforcing civil and human rights worldwide. It was founded in 2007 by Wolfgang Kaleck and other international human rights lawyers to protect and enforce the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as other human rights declarations and national constitutions, through legal means.

Together with those affected and partners worldwide, ECCHR uses legal means to end impunity for those responsible for torture, war crimes, sexual and gender-based violence, corporate exploitation and fortressed borders.

Maria Bause
T: +49 30 69819797
M: presse@ecchr.eu

Philipp Jedamzik
T: +49 30 29680591
M: presse@ecchr.eu