The Admissibility of the Detention of Minors in Guarded Centers for Refugees in the Context of the Principle of Best Interests of the Child

The glossed ECHR judgment concerns the extension of detention in a guarded center of an Armenian family seeking international protection. The Court has found that Poland breached art. 5 par. 1 (f) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It has upheld its position expressed in the case of Bilalova and Others v. Poland (application no. 23685/14), that “Various international bodies, including the Council of Europe, are increasingly calling on States to expeditiously and completely cease or eradicate the immigration detention of children. The Court has found that the presence in a detention centre of a child accompanying its parents will comply with art. 5 par. 1 (f) only where the national authorities can establish that such a measure of last resort was taken after verification that no other measure involving a lesser restriction of their freedom could be implemented […]”. Therefore, the “rule of no recollection” operating in Polish legislation may be an additional test verifying the admissibility of minors’ detention in guarded centers.