Hanan v. Germany: applying the ECHR to United Nations international military operation without affecting States’ willingness and ability to engage in such operations?

This short article is a comment of the Hanan v. Germany ECtHR Judgment. On 16 January 2021, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rendered an important judgment that adds new insights to its already complex case law regarding the extraterritorial applicability of the European Convention on Human Rights (the ‘Convention’). In the case Hanan v. Germany (application no. 4871/16), the Strasbourg-based Court confirmed the application of the Convention to German prosecution authorities in the context of an extraterritorial military operation within the framework of a mandate given by a resolution of the United Nations Security Council. This is therefore a particularly sensitive case, dealing both with the limits of the scope of the Convention and the effect it may have on military and geopolitical issues.