The European Convention on Human Rights and Residence Requirement for the Purposes of Social Assistance Benefits

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the case law on whether a requirement that a person have a legal right of residence in order to be entitled to social assistance benefits is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. It looks, in particular, at a recent series of Dutch cases before the European Court of Human Rights in which the Court rejected as inadmissible arguments that the Dutch residence requirement was in breach of the Convention. The recent cases are of particular relevance as the ECtHR had previously taken a negative view of residence requirements in cases such as Niedzwiecki v Germany .1 In contrast to that case, the recent Dutch cases involved the residence status of a co-resident rather than the claimant herself.