M.S.S v Belgium and Greece (Appl. No. 30696/09)

Briefed on: 20 February 2017

The M.S.S group of cases concerns the degrading treatment of the applicants (asylum seekers or irregular migrants) on account of their conditions of detention such as overcrowding, insufficient ventilation, lack of regular access to toilets or sanitary facilities, unsuitable food or inadequate allowances for food in various detention facilities. The ECtHR found such a treatment amount to a violation of Article 3 of the Convention (degrading ill-treatment).

• Submission of Amnesty International to the Committee of Ministers
• Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights