On 12 March, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the M.A. v. Cyprus group of cases. This group concerned the detention of asylum seekers between 2010 and 2012, and the lack of speedy remedy to challenge the lawfulness of the detention. The European Court also found violations relating to certain stages of their detention, including transfer without legal basis and failures to act with due diligence in arranging deportation. In the M.A. case, the Court found that there was no effective remedy with automatic suspensive effect against a deportation decision taken in error while the applicant’s asylum claim was still pending.
Following the Court’s judgments, all applicants were released from detention and the just satisfaction awarded by the Court was paid. In addition, a remedy with automatic suspensive effect was introduced for individuals alleging that their expulsion would violate the right to life or the prohibition of torture as guaranteed in Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. On 4 February 2021, the Law Providing for the Establishment and Operation of the Administrative Court, which introduced such a remedy, entered into force. Statistics provided by the authorities on the average duration of proceedings in this field also demonstrated positive trends.
