In the case of Aydın Sefa Akay v. Türkiye the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to liberty and security and a violation of the right to respect for private life and home.

The case concerned a UN judge’s arrest and pre-trial detention, as well as the search of his house and person, in the aftermath of the 2016 attempted military coup in Türkiye, in spite of his diplomatic immunity. He was working remotely from his home in Istanbul for the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (“the UN Criminal Tribunals Mechanism”) when arrested.

The Court was not convinced by the national courts’ interpretation of international law when rejecting his claim for diplomatic immunity. It also found that the applicant appeared to have been entitled to full diplomatic immunity, including the inviolability of his person and private residence and being shielded from any form of arrest or detention, under international law. His arrest, pre-trial detention, search of his house and person had thus been unlawful.

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