CASE OF H.F. AND OTHERS v. FRANCE (no. 24384/19)
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What was at stake
Whether the French authorities’ refusal to allow the applicants, who are French nationals, to return to France violated their right not to be expelled from their own country under Article 3 of Protocol No. 4.
What happened
The applicants, who are French nationals, were living in a conflict zone in Syria and sought to return to France. The French authorities refused their return, citing national security concerns.
What the court decided
The Court declared the remainder of the application inadmissible but found a violation of the prohibition of expulsion of nationals, ordering France to take individual measures to remedy the breach and holding that the finding of a violation was sufficient to address the claim for non‑pecuniary damage.
How the court got there
The court decided that the refusal to allow the applicants to return to France violated their rights under Article 3 of Protocol No. 4, which prohibits the expulsion of nationals. The court reasoned that the applicants, as French nationals, had an inherent right to enter their own country and that the state's security concerns did not justify a blanket refusal without individual assessment.
Statutes and cases cited
- § Refugee Convention art. 33
- Plaintiff M70/2011 v Minister
Categories
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