GYLA: European Court of Human Rights starts consideration of individual complaints against Russia in connection with August 2008 war

The European Court of Human Rights has begun consideration of individual complaints against Russia in connection with the August 2008 war, according to the Young Lawyers' Association.

According to GYLA, the court asked questions to the Russian Federation regarding 59 individually filed complaints (Jioshvili v. the Russian Federation and 58 other complaints). The cases under consideration include 12 complaints sent by GYLA, which concern the protection of the interests of 78 people.

"According to the letter of the court, the Russian Federation has to answer questions before the European Court until May 2, 2022, in particular whether it violated Article 8 (right to privacy and family life); Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (right to property), Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 (freedom of movement), and Articles 13 (right to an effective remedy) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination). With regard to the above articles, the Court will consider whether the applicants have access to their property located in the occupied territories and whether the Russian Federation will be held accountable for the violation of those rights against them”, reads the statement released by GYLA.

According to the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, they are defending more than 350 victims of the August 2008 war in the European Court of Human Rights. GYLA has filed a total of 53 complaints concerning the violation of various rights under the European Convention by the Russian Federation during the war.