60
OTHMAN (ABU QATADA) v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
189. More usually, the Court will assess first, the quality of assurances
given and, second, whether, in light of the receiving State’s practices they
can be relied upon. In doing so, the Court will have regard, inter alia, to the
following factors:
(i) whether the terms of the assurances have been disclosed to the Court
(Ryabikin v. Russia, no. 8320/04, § 119, 19 June 2008; Muminov v. Russia,
no. 42502/06, § 97, 11 December 2008; see also Pelit v. Azerbaijan, cited
above);
(ii) whether the assurances are specific or are general and vague (Saadi¸
cited above; Klein v. Russia, no. 24268/08, § 55, 1 April 2010; Khaydarov
v. Russia, no. 21055/09, § 111, 20 May 2010);
(iii) who has given the assurances and whether that person can bind the
receiving State (Shamayev and Others v. Georgia and Russia, no. 36378/02,
§ 344, ECHR 2005-III; Kordian v. Turkey (dec.), no. 6575/06, 4 July 2006;
Abu Salem v. Portugal (dec.), no 26844/04, 9 May 2006; cf. Ben Khemais
v. Italy, no. 246/07, § 59, ECHR 2009-... (extracts); Garayev v. Azerbaijan,
no. 53688/08, § 74, 10 June 2010; Baysakov and Others v. Ukraine,
no. 54131/08, § 51, 18 February 2010; Soldatenko v. Ukraine, no. 2440/07,
§ 73, 23 October 2008);
(iv) if the assurances have been issued by the central government of the
receiving State, whether local authorities can be expected to abide by them
(Chahal, cited above, §§ 105-107);
(v) whether the assurances concerns treatment which is legal or illegal in
the receiving State (Cipriani v. Italy (dec.), no. 221142/07, 30 March 2010;
Youb Saoudi v. Spain (dec.), no. 22871/06, 18 September 2006; Ismaili
v. Germany, no. 58128/00, 15 March 2001; Nivette v. France (dec.),
no 44190/98, ECHR 2001 VII; Einhorn v. France (dec.), no 71555/01,
ECHR 2001-XI; see also Suresh and Lai Sing, both cited above)
(vi) whether they have been given by a Contracting State (Chentiev and
Ibragimov v. Slovakia (dec.), nos. 21022/08 and 51946/08, 14 September
2010; Gasayev v. Spain (dec.), no. 48514/06, 17 February 2009);
(vii)the length and strength of bilateral relations between the sending and
receiving States, including the receiving State’s record in abiding by similar
assurances (Babar Ahmad and Others, cited above, §§ 107 and 108;
Al-Moayad v. Germany (dec.), no. 35865/03, § 68, 20 February 2007);
(viii) whether compliance with the assurances can be objectively
verified through diplomatic or other monitoring mechanisms, including
providing unfettered access to the applicant’s lawyers (Chentiev and
Ibragimov and Gasayev, both cited above; cf. Ben Khemais, § 61 and
Ryabikin, § 119, both cited above; Kolesnik v. Russia, no. 26876/08, § 73,
17 June 2010; see also Agiza, Alzery and Pelit, cited above);
(ix) whether there is an effective system of protection against torture in
the receiving State, including whether it is willing to cooperate with
international monitoring mechanisms (including international human rights
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