Human rights

Contracting states had the right as a matter of international law and subject to their treaty obligations, including the European Convention on Human Rights, to control the entry, residence and expulsion of aliens. The right to political asylum was also not contained in either the Convention or its Protocols.

However, expulsion by a contracting state might give rise to an issue under Art 3, and hence engage the responsibility of that state under the Convention, where substantial grounds had been shown for believing that the person concerned, if deported, faced a real risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Art 3. The sole question for the court to consider in an expulsion case was whether, in all the circumstances of the case before it, substantial grounds had been shown for believing that the person concerned, if returned, would face a real risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Art 3 of the Convention.