In Allouche v. France, (ECHR, April 11, 2024) (full text in French), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment awarded damages of 15,000 Euros plus costs and expenses to a Jewish woman for violation of her right to respect for her private life. As explained by the Court in an English language summary:
Criminal proceedings were conducted following a complaint lodged by the applicant concerning antisemitic insults and threats she had received by email from B....
The applicant’s complaint concerned the fact that the authorities, which had failed to take into account the antisemitic aspect of the offender’s remarks, had failed to provide her with effective protection against antisemitic acts of violence, threats and insults. Some of B.’s statements had been extremely violent, had contained direct threats and had been directed at the applicant as a member of the Jewish community.
The Court reiterated that the national authorities had a duty to implement an appropriate legal framework to protect against discriminatory acts and to take all reasonable steps to determine whether there had been any racist or, more broadly, discriminatory motive for the impugned acts.... Violent incidents with allegedly discriminatory motives, in particular racist motives, should not be treated on an equal footing with offences lacking such motives....
In the light of the above considerations, the domestic authorities had disregarded their positive obligations under Articles 8 and 14 of the Convention, which had consisted in providing the applicant with effective and adequate criminal-law protection against the statements made by the offender. The authorities’ failure to take into account the antisemitic component of the present case had undermined their ability to provide an appropriate response.
[Thanks to Law & Religion UK for the lead.]
