The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found that the Switzerland Federal Court’s fine and detention of a woman for begging was a violation of her rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and that any blanket ban on begging or other types of conduct “is a radical measure which requires strong justification”.
The case in question involved a Romanian national, Ms Lăcătuş, who was born into poverty, was unable to find work and was not in receipt of any social welfare payments, began asking for charity in Geneva, Switzerland in 2011. As a result she breached the Geneva Criminal Law Act under which begging in a public place is an offence. Over the course of the next two years Ms Lăcătuş was issued with further summary penalty orders for begging, resulting in eight more fines. She was also kept in police custody for two three-hour spells.
Ms Lăcătuş appealed the penalty orders to the Police Court of the Canton of Geneva, who found her guilty of begging and ordered her to pay a fine of CHF 500 / serve a five-day custodial sentence if payment was not forthcoming. Appeals by Ms Lăcătuş to the Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva and the Swiss Federal Court were both dismissed in April and September of 2014 respectively and Ms Lăcătuş served the five-day sentence for non-payment of the fine in Champ-Dollon Remand Prison in March 2015.
Following application to the ECtHR, the Court found that Ms Lăcătuş, an “extremely vulnerable person”, was “punished for her acts in a situation where she very likely had no other means of subsistence and, therefore, no other choice than begging in order to survive”. Her punishment by the Swiss courts, the Court said, was “not a measure proportionate either to the aim of the fight against organized crime, or to that of protecting the rights of passers-by, residents and business owners”. Further, it had “affected her human dignity and the very essence of the rights protected by Article 8” and had not been “necessary in a democratic society” within the meaning of Article 8.
Addressing the blanket ban on begging under the Geneva Criminal Law Act, the Court called such a measure “radical” and opined that any such provision would necessitate
rigorous scrutiny by the courts and a weighing up of the various interests at stake. Discussing the manner in which other Council of Europe Member States had legislated for begging, the Court pointed out that they generally adopted a more nuanced approach – limiting the scope of legislation to only address more aggressive forms of begging, for example. The Court also pointed out that a number of Member States did not consider it necessary to prohibit begging whatsoever.
You can read the full judgment here (in French only).