On the 4th of April 2023, the ECtHR issued its ruling A.D. v Greece, no. 55363/19. The case concerned the living conditions of a pregnant Ghanian woman residing at the Samos Reception and Identification Centre (RIC), Greece. The applicant submitted that upon her arrival in Samos she had been six months pregnant, with a medical history of miscarriages. She had been living in a tent outside the RIC where she had no access to adequate sanitary facilities. When the applicant’s tent had been destroyed, she resided in a new one located within the premises of the RIC, where the sanitary facilities had been in a precarious hygienic condition.
The ECtHR declared the complaint admissible dismissing the Greek Government’s objection that the applicant had not submitted any written reception requests to the competent authorities or domestic courts and had therefore failed to exhaust domestic remedies. The Court noted that the applicant’s accommodation needs were only addressed when the child was born although these needs were known to the authorities almost three months before.
Next, the ECtHR observed that the applicant resided at the Samos RIC for approximately two and a half months. The Court held that during that period, the applicant was in an advanced stage of her pregnancy and therefore in need of specialised care. The Court found that the applicant’s treatment exceeded the threshold of severity required to engage Article 3 and therefore Greece violated Article 3 of the ECHR.