European Court of Human Rights: Naït-Litman v. Switzerland

Refusal by the Swiss courts to examine a compensation claim relating to alleged acts of torture in Tunisia: no violation

Press Release issued by the Registrar of the Court

In today’s Grand Chamber judgment1 in the case of Nait-Liman v. Switzerland (application no. 51357/07) the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority (fifteen votes to two), that there had been: no violation of Article 6 § 1 (right of access to a court) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the refusal by the Swiss courts to examine Mr Naït-Liman’s civil claim for compensation for the non-pecuniary damage arising from acts of torture allegedly inflicted on him in Tunisia.

The Court considered, on the basis of a comparative legal study, that international law had not imposed an obligation on the Swiss authorities to open their courts with a view to ruling on the merits of Mr Naït-Liman’s compensation claim, on the basis of either universal civil jurisdiction in respect of acts of torture or a forum of necessity. It followed that the Swiss authorities had enjoyed a wide margin of appreciation in this area.

With regard to the criteria laid down by the legislature, the Court concluded that by introducing a forum of necessity with the criteria laid down in section 3 of the Federal Law on Private International Law, the Swiss legislature had not exceeded its margin of appreciation. As to the margin of appreciation of the domestic courts, the Court could perceive no arbitrary or manifestly unreasonable elements in the Federal Supreme Court’s interpretation in its judgment of 22 May 2007, by which the Federal Supreme Court dismissed Mr Naït-Liman’s appeal, holding that the Swiss courts did not have territorial jurisdiction.

The Court reiterated, however, that this conclusion did not call into question the broad consensus within the international community on the existence of a right for victims of acts of torture to obtain appropriate and effective redress, nor the fact that the States were encouraged to give effect to this right.

Referências:

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS. Case of Naït-Liman v. Switzerland. Judgment of 15 March 2018. Disponível em: <http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-181789>. Acesso em 31 mar. 2018.

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS. Case of Naït-Liman v. Switzerland (Press Release). Judgment of 15 March 2018. Disponível em: <http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press?i=003-6032091-7745565>. Acesso em 31 mar. 2018.

REQUEJO, Marta. Torture, Universal Civil Jurisdiction and Forum Necessitatis: Naït-Litman v. Switzerland before the ECtHR. Conflict of Laws .net. Disponível em: <http://conflictoflaws.net/2018/universal-civil-jurisdiction-and-forum-necessitatis-before-the-ecthr/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+conflictoflaws%2FRSS+%28Conflict+of+Laws+.net%29>. Acesso em 31 mar. 2018.