Commissioner Hammarberg's first ever third party oral intervention

1 September 2010, Strasbourg. Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg made his first-ever oral intervention, as a third party before the European Court of Human Rights.

Commissioner Hammarberg provided his observations on major issues concerning refugee protection in Greece, including asylum procedures and human rights safeguards, as well as asylum seekers' reception and detention conditions.

While expressing his full support to the Greek government’s decision and ongoing efforts to overhaul the refugee protection system and overcome its structural deficiencies, the Commissioner observed that the current asylum law and practice in Greece are not in compliance with international and European human rights standards.

These oral submissions complemented the written observations submitted to the Court on 31 May 2010 in the case of M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece. These observations are based on the Commissioner’s visits to Greece from 8 to 10 December 2008 and from 8 to 10 February 2010, as well as on continuous country monitoring.

To read the text of the third party intervention click here. To view a video of the sitting click here (note that since the video covers the whole morning session, drag the tab until the timer reades 02:12:55 to go to the beginning of Mr Hammarberg's speech).