Overview
- Judges at the European Court of Human Rights upheld Spain’s 2019 administrative expulsion of Moroccan resident Najib Fal, who received a 10-year entry ban despite facing no criminal trial.
- The court said the lack of a conviction was relevant but not decisive and accepted police and security reports that described Fal’s role in recruiting people in Madrid for ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
- Rejecting his Article 8 claim on family life, the ruling noted limited integration in Spain, a Moroccan spouse, and daughters who the judges said could reasonably adapt in Morocco.
- The panel deferred to prior decisions by Spain’s Audiencia Nacional, Supreme Court, and Constitutional Court and found the 10-year ban proportionate to the identified security threat.
- El País reports this as the court’s first ruling on Spain’s practice of using intelligence-based expulsions for radicalization cases, a move that could guide similar actions across Europe.