On 13-14 October 2025, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) held a transnational workshop in Athens on strategic litigation before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to challenge the detention of migrant children.
Over the two days, lawyers from six EU Member States explored procedural and strategic aspects of litigating cases before the ECtHR. Discussions addressed procedural steps, admissibility criteria, and strategies for submitting applications, with practical guidance on drafting concise and impactful applications. The exchange was enriched by lawyers’ first-hand litigation experience with requests for interim measures and applications in cases involving the detention of children.
Participants reflected on the wider implications of litigation before the ECtHR which may serve to address issues identified during the workshop, such as: the lack of an effective remedy to challenge age assessment decisions, the failure to apply the benefit of the doubt when age assessment is pending, leading to children being detained with adults; or the limited access to education for children in detention.
The workshop also focused on the implementation of ECtHR judgments and the importance of follow-up advocacy at national level. Practitioners were reminded of the importance of Rule 9 submissions and encouraged to actively engage with national authorities to ensure compliance. Participants discussed strategies to support implementation in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, and Poland. In the Czech Republic, for instance, the Government Agent’s Office hosts a forum where representatives of the parliament, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders discuss and work on the implementation of ECtHR and other international bodies cases against the Czech Republic.
The workshop further provided an overview of other international litigation mechanisms relevant to the immigration detention of children, including the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), and UN Treaty bodies and Special procedures, which are not as widely relied upon by lawyers.
Inspiration for legal argumentation based on the work of other regional bodies has been also discussed. For instance, the Inter-American Court jurisprudence can inspire arguments and strengthen cases before the ECtHR, as the Court has previously ruled that immigration detention is never in the best interests of the child and must be prohibited.
Download
The agenda is available here.
Follow-up
A follow-up webinar will take place in the coming weeks, offering an opportunity for continued exchange.
Background
The Protecting Migrant Children against Detention through the EU Charter (RELEASE) project aims to deepen and expand existing work with a strong focus on strategic litigation and alternatives to detention (AtD) for migrant children at risk of being subjected to unlawful detention or whose rights may be violated in alternatives to detention. The consortium of partners contributes to fostering a favourable EU environment to protect migrant children from detention in Malta – Aditus Foundation; Belgium – Défense des Enfants International-Belgique; the Czech Republic – Forum for Human Rights; Poland – Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights; Greece – Greek Council for Refugees; and Bulgaria – Foundation for Access to Rights.
This workshop is the third in a series of three transnational exchanges. The first workshop held in Luxembourg in April 2025, focused on litigation before the CJEU. In June 2025, the second workshop held in Prague explored litigation before the UN Treaty Bodies and the European Committee of Social Rights.
Contact
For more information, please contact: Karolína Babická, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser: karolina.babicka@icj.org
