Information Note on the Court’s case-law 254

August-September 2021

Ait Oufella and Others v. France (communicated case) - 51860/20, 54879/20, 15300/21 et al.

Article 5

Article 5-1

Lawful arrest or detention

Procedure prescribed by law

Pre-trial detention extended automatically without any decision by a judge in the context of emergency legislation at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: communicated

Article 5-3

Brought promptly before judge or other officer

Pre-trial detention extended automatically without any decision by a judge in the context of emergency legislation at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: communicated

On the basis of Emergency Law no. 2020-290 of 23 March 2020 enacted to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the French government adopted Ordinance no. 2020-303 of 25 March 2020 for the adaptation of certain rules of criminal procedure. Article 16 of that Ordinance provided in particular for the automatic extension of periods of pre-trial detention. The four applications that are being communicated have been received from individuals who were in custody at the time. They mainly complain that the mechanism has resulted in the extension of their detention without any decision by a judge.

Cases communicated under Article 5 §§ 1, 3, 4 and 5 of the Convention.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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