21 May Judgment in the case Ljatifi against the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
In the case of Ljatifi v. “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (application no. 19017/16, 17.05.2018) the European Court of Human Rights held, by six votes to one, that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 (procedural safeguards relating to expulsion of aliens) to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The applicant, Gjilizare Ljatifi, is a Serbian national who left Kosovo with her family and settled in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. The applicant was granted asylum and a residence permit. The permit was extended every year until 2014 when the Ministry of the Interior terminated her right to asylum, holding that she was a risk to national security. Her challenges to this decision before the administrative courts were all unsuccessful. The courts, referring to a classified note obtained from the National Intelligence Agency, accepted that she was a risk to national security.
The Court observed that, even where national security was at stake, deportation measures should be subject to some form of adversarial proceedings before an independent authority or court. However, in the applicant’s case, the Ministry’s assertion that she was “a risk to (national) security” had simply been accepted without any other factual details to support that allegation. The courts only added that the Ministry had reached their decision on the basis of a classified document obtained from the Intelligence Agency, which was not available during the proceedings before the Ministry or the courts. However, no proceedings have ever been brought against the applicant. There had therefore been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 7.
The Court held as well, that “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” has to pay Ms Ljatifi 2,400 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage, and EUR 1,600 in respect of costs and expenses (Just satisfaction – Article 41).
References from the Official website of the European Court of Human Rights.