Universal-MigrationHRlaw-PG-no-6-Publications-PractitionersGuide-2014-eng

158 | PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 6Box 11. Automatic prohibitions on leaving one’scountryThe right to leave any country, including one’s own, is enshrinedin Article 12.2 ICCPR, Article 2.2 of Protocol 2 ECHR,Article 22.2 ACHR, Article 12.2 of the African Charter. It is notan absolute right as, it can be limited for the pursuance of alegitimate aim and only by measures which are prescribed bylaw, necessary and proportionate.A particular reflection of this human right—which is rarelyclaimed before international human rights bodies—is tobe found in the judgment of the European Court of HumanRights in the case Stamose v. Bulgaria. The case concerned aBulgarian citizen whose passport was seized by the Bulgarianauthorities and who was subject to a travel ban of two yearsfor breach of the immigration laws of the USA. The scope ofthis measure was to “discourage and prevent breaches of theimmigration laws of other States, and thus reduce the likelihoodof those States refusing other Bulgarian nationals entryto their territory, or toughening or refusing to relax their visaregime in respect of Bulgarian nationals”. 531 The law on whichthe measure was based was “enacted and subsequently tightened[. . .] as part of a package of measures designed to allaythe fears of, amongst others, the then Member States of theEuropean Union in respect of illegal emigration from Bulgaria,and that it played a part in the Union’s decision in March 2001to exempt Bulgarian nationals from a visa requirement forshort‐term stays [. . .].” 532The European Court held that the fact that the prohibition toleave his country derived from a EU agreement did not foreclosethe examination of its compliance with the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights. On the matter of the dispute,the Court found it “quite draconian for the Bulgarian State—which could not be regarded as directly affected by the applicant’sinfringement—to have also prevented him from travellingto any other foreign country for a period of two years”. 533It finally ruled that, “[a]lthough the Court might be preparedto accept that a prohibition on leaving one’s own country imposedin relation to breaches of the immigration laws of an-531 Stamose v. Bulgaria, ECtHR, Application No. 29713/05, Judgment of 27 November 2012,para. 32.532 Ibid., para. 36.533 Ibid., para. 34.