On 6 May, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Hungary in a case concerning the expulsion of Turkish national Orhan Demirci. He was removed from Hungary on 25 March 2021, following a 2020 recommendation by the country’s specialised intelligence agency, which deemed him a threat to national security.

Mr Demirci had lived in Hungary since 1990. He married in 1994 and was later granted permanent residence. The applicants in the case - Mr Demirci, his wife, and their adult daughter - are a married couple and their daughter, both Hungarian nationals. In 2010, Mr Demirci received a ten-year permanent residence permit. However, in 2014, he was convicted of causing serious bodily harm, and in 2020, his application for a national settlement permit was rejected.

The applicants argued that his expulsion violated their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically:

• Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 (procedural safeguards in expulsion of aliens),

• Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life), and

• Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).

They particularly objected to the use of classified information in the proceedings, to which they had no access during either the administrative or judicial review processes.

The Court found a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 and ordered Hungary to pay €14,700 in damages and costs to the applicants.

It did not examine the remaining complaints under Articles 8 and 13. It also dismissed the second and third applicants’ Article 8 complaint concerning family separation, ruling it was incompatible ratione materiae with the Convention.