The case concerned an applicant for international protection who complained that he had been left without accommodation in Belgium, between July and November 2022, despite the decision by which the Brussels French-Language Employment Tribunal had ordered the Belgian State to grant him material assistance and provide him with accommodation. The Tribunal’s order was delivered on 22 July 2022, became final on 29 August 2022 and was ultimately enforced on 4 November 2022.

The Court noted that the order’s enforceability had required that the State execute it on its own initiative pursuant to domestic law. It had not, however, been executed spontaneously but only following an interim measure granted by the Court on 31 October 2022.

The Court could not fail to be aware that the circumstances of the present case were not isolated incidents and that they revealed a systemic failure on the part of the Belgian authorities to enforce final judicial decisions concerning the reception of applicants for international protection. While it was aware of the difficult situation the Belgian State was facing, it could not accept that the time taken by the Belgian authorities in the present case to enforce a court order aimed at protecting human dignity had been reasonable. In the Court’s view, this systemic failure had over-burdened the operation of a national court and that of the Court itself. It found that there had not been a “mere” delay on the part of the Belgian authorities, but rather a clear refusal to comply with the orders issued by the domestic court, thereby impairing the very essence of the right protected by Article 6 of the Convention.

For further information, please read the press release issued by the Registrar of the Court.