On 18 July 2023, seven European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’) Justices unanimously concluded that the Republic of North Macedonia’s treatment of a group of sex workers in detention violated several provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the ‘Convention’). The ECtHR found that the Republic of North Macedonia’s failure to provide the detainees with adequate food, water and toilet facilities amounted to a breach of Article 3 of the Convention (relating to the prohibition on torture), and that its publication of photographs of the detainees on the website of the Ministry of the Interior (the ‘Ministry’) contravened Article 8 of the Convention (relating to the right to respect for private and family life).
The application lodged with the ECtHR was submitted by four women who were among a group of 32 sex workers arrested by police on 20 November 2008 (on the basis that activities related to prostitution are illegal in the Republic of North Macedonia). The applicants were sent to a clinic to have blood samples taken (for the purposes of detecting sexually transmittable diseases) on 21 November 2008 pursuant to a court order, and were released later that day. The applicants initiated domestic proceedings in June 2009, alleging ill-treatment by the police (including on the basis that “while detained they were not provided with any food, water or access to toilet facilities”) and a violation of their right to privacy whilst they were in detention (including on the basis that the Ministry published their photographs on its website, attracting undue media attention). The ruling of the trial judge (who found in favour of the applicants) was overturned on appeal, and the applicants brought their case to the ECtHR in June 2017 – alleging breaches of Articles 3, 6 and 8 of the Convention (Article 6 being the provision dealing with the right to a fair trial).
The ECtHR found that Article 3 was admissible in the circumstances and that the Republic of North Macedonia had violated same, given that it had failed to meet its legal burden to “present sufficient evidence demonstrating conclusively that the police authorities took account of the applicants’ basic needs, such as by providing them with food, water and access to a toilet”. The ECtHR likewise held that Article 8 was admissible on the facts, and found that the appeal court’s ruling “in rather general terms, that none of the applicants’ rights had been breached” did not contain sufficient reasoning as to why the taking and publication of photographs of the applicants on the Ministry’s website did not amount to a breach of their Article 8 rights. The ECtHR therefore held that “the national courts failed in their obligation to protect the applicants’ right to respect for their private life” and contravened Article 8. The ECtHR found that it was not required to deal with the applicants’ Article 6 submission that certain evidence had not been forwarded to them in the course of the dispute, as it was the ECtHR’s view that the main legal issues had already been determined through an examination of Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention.
The ECtHR, exercising its power under Article 41 of the Convention to award just satisfaction to a party injured by a violation of the Convention, awarded the applicants €3,300 each – but dismissed a claim by the applicants for their costs on the basis that they had received monetary assistance through a non-governmental organisation in the course of the litigation.
Click here for the judgment in Case of DH and Others v North Macedonia App No 44033/17 (ECHR, 18 July 2023).